VT Green
by Gumnut
Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently. "Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."
1. Chapter 1

Title: V. T. Green

Part One

Author: Gumnut

24 - 25 Aug 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 1946

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

The world was blurry as he let his head slide on one hand and stared out through the kitchen window. Gordon was in the pool, swimming his morning laps. The sun had yet to rise and Virgil had broken several laws of physics rising himself. This time of day should not exist. But then it didn't, because it wasn't day yet because there was no sun!

But no, supersonic big brother wanted to do some special training today. Training that for some reason had been scheduled at sunrise.

It was possibly important, likely scheduled just to get his ass out of bed at this godawful hour. Occasionally there were some issues with having your brother in command. Brotherly love only went so far, brotherly snark had more mileage, and Scott did have that twist of his lips when he announced the schedule.

Four pairs of eyes had immediately turned to him and his return glare had been insufficient to deflect the amusement that followed.

But it was okay. It was fine. He had his own skill drills up his sleeve. Two am would be convenient for him next time, definitely. After all, they all had to keep their skill sets up, didn't they?

In the meantime, it was black coffee and repeated attempts to focus on Mateo. Mateo was distinctly blurry, and dark and,,,,

"Hey, Virg!" Alan whacked him on the back.

His face nearly ended up in his coffee. "Alan? What the hell?"

"And good morning to you, too, big bro. Ready for this morning's run?"

He stared at his bright and peppy, yes, peppy, youngest brother. Augh. "Go away."

"Aww, did the big bear have to get out of bed a little early?"

"Alan..."

"C'mon, Virg, it's gonna be fun. A race around the island, wind in your hair, blood pumping...it's gonna be awesome."

Virgil stared at him, his brain slowly picking up that something wasn't quite right. "Alan, why aren't you comatose?"

"What do you mean, big bro?"

A slow blink. "You hate mornings almost as much as I do. Who are you and what have you done with my little brother?" His eyelids drooped all of their own volition.

"It's called prepared, bro. I'm in it to win it."

Virgil's eyes narrowed. "Are you on something? Because if you are, Scott's going to kill you, and once I'm awake, I'll resuscitate you so I can kill you again."

"That's violence, bro. It's cool, I promise."

An arched eyebrow that almost hurt. "What did you do, Alan?"

"Nothing. Well, nothing you aren't already doing."

"You drank coffee."

"Noooooooo."

"What did you do?"

"A little caffeine is all."

The arched eyebrow flipped into a frown. "How much?"

"Enough."

Virgil's back straightened. "Alan."

"I'm fine, bro, I promise. I know what I'm doing. I'm not stupid." A blond frown. "Besides, it's not like you don't do the same with your coffee after coffee after coffee technique."

Virgil's lips thinned, but to be honest, the kid was right, he didn't have a leg to stand on. But... "You're not yet an adult, Alan."

"Yet, I take the responsibilities of an adult, Virgil."

"Your body isn't fully mature!"

"Well, thanks for that, Doctor Virgil!"

"You have to look after yourself!"

"Hard to do anything else when I have four brothers mother-henning me all the time!"

"We worry about you!"

"Well, don't! I can look after myself."

"Alan!"

"Virgil!"

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?!"

Virgil found himself looming over his little brother, one brain cell after another slowly catching up with what the hell was going on. Bright blue eyes were staring up at him defiantly, his little brother's shoulders tight and fists clenched at his sides.

Virgil forced his own fists to uncurl. There was a reason why he preferred not to see this time of day. Disturbed sleep disturbed his calm, his control, and things like this happened.

Scott loomed over the both of them and Virgil took a step back, slumping back onto his seat and hulking over his coffee almost in a pout. "Better ask Alan, he's the one being stupid."

"Speak for yourself, Virgil."

"Both of you, shut it." Scott could glare with the best of them, but Virgil had exhausted what little energy he had and ignored him. "Alan, dosed himself with caffeine."

"Virgil!"

He could feel the laserbeams shooting out of Scott's eyes switching targets and landing on Alan. There was no satisfaction, just blergh. Here we go.

And sure enough, Scott started in on his little brother. There was, of course, shouting. Virgil idly wondered how come Scott got to yell and he didn't. But then Virgil didn't really like yelling anyway.

Coffee. Its warmth drifted down his throat and spread into his bones. Oh god, he needed it. Maybe a second one after this? But then the word 'caffeine' came up amongst the explosions beside him and he reconsidered. No need to become a target himself.

He let his foggy mind drift a little. It was all his fault really. He could have gone to bed early, but he had made the mistake of getting into a discussion online with an engineering idiot. The topic had become heated, chemical formulas launched like bombs and laced with reactive equations enough to take out half the engineering community. In the end, he'd thrown a hissy fit and sat up to three am writing up his argument. He'd chucked it onto his blog with a great deal of satisfaction and was looking forward to rubbing it in the man's face.

Just as soon as he could boot his brain.

Coffee, give me strength.

Gordon wandered in at some point, a damp towel around his neck. Being Gordon, he prodded the conflagration in progress and got burnt. The argument became three sided.

Virgil considered snoozing on the counter.

Then he hit on the idea that he could possibly sneak back to bed. He stood up slowly.

Brains bounded into the room, tablet in hand. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Brilliant, so b-brilliant!"

The argument came to a sudden halt, four pairs of eyes turning towards the engineer.

The engineer didn't notice, eyes glued to his tablet. Max bounded in behind him, whirring excitedly. It was the robot who prevented the distracted Brains from walking into the kitchen counter.

"Oh, thank you, M-Max." His eyes didn't leave the tablet. "Did you see the p-polymer ratio? Amazing! Such elegance. You know, I am quite d-disap-pointed that I didn't think of this myself. The applications are going to b-be in-numerable."

The distraction was enough to break the fuel lines of the argument and Scott settled for a final threat, Alan a final glare and Gordon, a snort of derision. The moment to escape was lost and Virgil slumped where he sat.

Damn.

"Virgil, you going to eat before we run?"

Alan was right, Scott mother-henned.

"Maybe." Ugh, c'mon coffee kick in. He needed operational braincells.

Scott was peering closely at him. "Earth to Virgil."

"Shut up, Scott. You got me up at the ass end of the day, I'm here. Don't expect much more."

His brother grinned, and Virgil had the odd urge to thump him. Just because this was his element, didn't mean he had to be a smart ass about it. "Your next physical is going to be hell."

The grin faltered. Aah, that's better. Hmm, perhaps his brain was slowly booting. Go, coffee.

"Virgil! You h-have to see these equations. They are brilliant!"

What? Brains' tablet shifted the remains of his coffee to one side and Virgil found himself staring at a series of numbers that made little sense at this time of the morning. "Brains, looks great. Can I review them later? I'm not all here yet."

The engineer didn't appear to hear him. "Look at the polymer decay to reaction ratio! This is a self-healing polymer!"

Huh? He frowned and forced himself to focus. The appropriate neurons clicked into place in his brain and suddenly what he was seeing made sense.

Shit.

He grabbed the tablet, eyeing the equations and spinning calculations in his head. Brains was right. This was perfect. The polymer would be able to self-heal with the application of a mild electrical current. Give it a pattern to follow and it would populate and keep it populated, even after disturbance.

"Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant." There was that word again. Brilliant.

But it still took a second for it all to click into place.

V. T. Green was his blog. V. T. Green was his pseudonym online, used for obvious reasons to keep his identity hidden. The blog had been for amusement originally. A place to stash his favourite music and art, but at some point, he had found himself venturing into engineering circles and getting into discussion with the online community. It made for interesting discourse and he was able to keep up to date with some of the latest innovations. Not that he could share his own much and IR was well ahead of the majority of the world thanks to one Hiram Hackenbacker, but on occasion he would fiddle with ideas and make suggestions. It was also a great place to postulate out-there concepts.

The equations on Brains' tablet were Virgil's.

"Where did you get these?"

Brains was full of far too much energy for this time of the morning. "Green p-posted them during the night and they have h-hit the world by s-storm."

"What?"

Brains frowned at him. "Haven't you heard of V. T. Green, Virgil? He is o-one of the leading engineers on this p-planet. I have been f-following his b-blog for over a year n-now. You r-really m-must check it out."

"Um, must have missed that one."

"H-how could you m-miss such an important s-site? I know you k-keep up to date. The man is at the centre of a massive discussion about polymer cohesion and decay. Last night, Coloncous in Spain had the nerve to challenge him in the most ridiculous manner. I was so close to cutting him off myself, he was embarrassing us all, but Green replied with this. As expected, it is a brilliant explanation and Coloncous had no choice but to concede and crawl back into the hole he should never have come out of in the first place. He was a fool to think he could go up against Green. But this solution has so many possibilities. Do you realise this could be integrated into Two's cahelium hull and she would be able to heal damage midflight? Four would be able seal herself in an underwater emergency. So brilliant."

Virgil stared at the engineer. He didn't think he had ever heard Brains say so many words in a row. And his stutter had disappeared two sentences in.

"What did you say about sealing Four, Brains?" Gordon's ears had obviously pricked up at the mention of his 'bird.

Brains' attention was immediately drawn to the aquanaut, his verbal diarrhoea spilling all over Gordon and freeing Virgil.

Taking the opportunity, he pulled out his phone and brought up the website.

Shit!

He had notifications enough to clog his inbox. Due to the early hour, his phone was still on silent and he hadn't heard any of them. A quick glance identified several prominent names and universities.

Shit. His eyes widened.

He glanced up at his family who were now eagerly discussing safety seals for Thunderbird Four. Even Scott's eyes were wide and enthusiastic.

Shit.

Um.

Yeah.

He needed more coffee.

-o-o-o-

End Part One

Part Two

He didn't get more coffee because they were called out not five minutes after he swallowed the dregs of what he already had.

Everything was dropped and International Rescue deployed. They were in the air within minutes and on their way to the Canadian Rockies to save a party of climbers caught in a rockfall.

It was pretty standard. Well, as standard as any rescue could be except his littlest brother was stoked on caffeine and did something really stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: V. T. Green

Part Two

Author: Gumnut

25 Aug – 1 Sep 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 3161

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D many thanks to both scribbles97 and vegetacide for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

He didn't get more coffee because they were called out not five minutes after he swallowed the dregs of what he already had.

Everything was dropped and International Rescue deployed. They were in the air within minutes, Scott in One, Virgil, Gordon and Alan in Two, and on their way to the Canadian Rockies to save a party of climbers caught in a rockfall.

It was pretty standard. Well, as standard as any rescue could be except his littlest brother was stoked on caffeine and did something really stupid.

The climbers were pinned on the side of a narrow canyon. Thunderbird Two landed on bare rock some distance off. Scott hovered out of disturbance range and deployed a drone to get clearer readings on the stability of the area.

Stable wasn't quite the right word.

"Virg, this is eggshells. One wrong move and the whole north side of the canyon is going to collapse. I'm surprised it hasn't already. Freeze-thaw fractures all down its length." A pause. "Looks as if the canyon was formed by a similar movement in the past."

After some consideration and throwing out of ideas, Virgil decided a helipod and a rescue rig would be the best option. The air was almost ominous in its stillness and the less weight on that north side, the better. The less disturbance, the better. The faster they got down there, the better.

Virgil tasked Gordon with piloting the pod, while Alan assisted Virgil with the rescue rig itself, the ten seats more than enough to grab five climbers off the vertical side of the canyon. Within minutes the three of them were hovering halfway down the crevice, Virgil reaching for the first of the injured climbers.

"Thank god for International Rescue." The first man literally leapt across the space between the rock and the rig before Virgil could even say hello, much less do an assessment for injury. The party had obviously been climbing further up and had been caught in the first of what was likely to be several rockfalls.

"Lower us down to the next victim, Gordon." Scott's drone hovered protectively, following them and monitoring the situation.

The rig shifted smoothly under his brother's manoeuvring. The second victim was a woman with a broken arm and scratches down the side of her face. Despite this, she was calm as Alan assisted her onto the rig, providing a safety line as she disconnected from her hastily secured piton.

They hurried onto the third victim, who had fallen further and was hanging precariously from a ledge, safety line swinging as they moved.

"No, you must help Jenna first! She's pinned."

"Sir, please keep still." Scott was listing the injuries of the fourth climber as Virgil stabilised the third while he continued to protest. It didn't look good for Jenna at all.

It was one of those moments of decision all the Tracy brothers hated.

"Gordon, lower us to the fifth victim."

"What? You can't leave her!"

"Sir, we are not leaving her. This rock face is fragile. Our priority is to save as many of you as possible, as fast as possible. Jenna will take longer than the fifth member of your team. We must secure them, before tackling Jenna." Who may not even survive. It wasn't fair to risk the fifth person because of the fourth.

The man continued to protest as Gordon lowered the rig past the prone Jenna. His yells grew louder and more desperate. There were tears.

"Virgil, I'll stay with Jenna while you rescue the fifth climber." And before he could stop him, Alan had fired his grapple gun, disengaged his safety line with the rig, and leapt onto the wall.

"Alan!" His voice was echoed by Scott's in his helmet. "What the hell are you doing?! The rock face is too fragile!"

"It will hold long enough. Just grab the other guy." Alan secured his safety line to the unconscious Jenna

"Scott! Give me a scan!"

His brother sent the drone's read outs to Virgil's HUD. Shit. "Alan, don't move!"

"Virg-"

It happened so fast it was a blur.

A sharp crack and the whole rock face was moving, falling. His brother and the limp Jenna with it. "Alan!"

Virgil clambered over the rig, his boots hitting the empty seat pads one after the other.

Alan was falling.

He wasn't secured, his grapple piton falling with the rock face.

His little brother was going to die at the bottom of this godawful crevice.

No.

Virgil jumped.

And reached.

God, please, no.

His fingers hooked the edge of Alan's harness just as his own safety line yanked tight, wrenching him hard. Alan's weight pulled on his shoulder, but it was the sudden addition of Jenna, the safety line between her and his brother snapping tight, that sparked and burned the muscles in his arm and shoulder.

A gasped yell and he forced his fingers to stay closed. Shit. Damn. Ow. God, that hurt.

He suddenly realised his eyes were squeezed shut and he shoved them open.

"What the hell are you doing?!" It wasn't any of his brothers, it was..."Jenna?! Oh god, Jenna!" The third rescuee.

"Virgil? What the hell?!" That was a brother. Alan.

And then there were more brothers in his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut again for just a moment, before rasping out, "Scott, need a hand."

But there was already thunder far above. A number of breaths later and a shadow passed him, lowering itself into the canyon. His eldest brother's arms appeared in his field of vision, a safety line hooking Alan to the rescue rig, back up for the pain holding his little brother aloft. "Hold on, Virgil. I will secure the rescuee." The grapple line supporting his brother lowered, a basket stretcher dangling from it.

"FAB." It was whispered.

He focussed on keeping his grip on his little brother. The same little brother was swearing colourfully until a sharp word from Scott cut him off. Time passed slowly. A tug here and there sparked white flashes of pain.

He kept his fingers curled.

"You can let go now, Virgil." His brother's voice was soft.

"Fifth climber..."

"Already have him, Virgil, he's safe. Alan is secure. You can let go." Blue fingers wrapped around his and tugged gently.

His fingers let go and the sudden lack of weight shot up through the length of his arm and shoulder. A sharp gasp deteriorated into a groan as his brother, now held aloft by his jet pack, deftly tucked Virgil's arm against his side, strapping it to his body with a support bandage.

"Okay, up you go." And Scott wrapped his arms around him and they rose upwards. A second or two later and Virgil found himself strapped into his own rescue rig.

The third rescuee pummelled Scott with questions about Jenna.

"Sir, she is receiving the best care possible. We will be evacuating to the nearest hospital as fast as possible. Gordon, take us up."

The next hours became a blur of the green of his 'bird, his medbay, the white of the hospital and the blue of his youngest brother's eyes.

Alan refused to speak to him. Gordon hovered and prodded in his usual way, obviously unhappy with the silence. Turned out Virgil had torn several muscles in both his arm and shoulder, almost dislocating it, and wouldn't be flying for a few weeks at least, so he had to sit behind his aquanaut brother as he flew Virgil's 'bird home.

Alan sat in the co-pilot's seat and said nothing the entire flight.

The moment TB2 came to a halt in her hangar, Alan was on his feet and lowering the hatch, leaving both of his brothers staring after him.

"You need a hand, Virg?"

Virgil, still feeling the effects of the painkillers liberally dealt out at the hospital, unstrapped himself and forced himself to his feet. "I'm fine, thanks, Gordon." His brother shot him a sceptical expression.

Virgil straightened up. "Good flight home. Don't forget post-flight." It worked. Gordon glared at him before turning back to the controls.

A step and he made his way over to the hatchway that had retracted after his brother stormed off and lowered himself to the floor of the hangar. His arm was in a tightly secured sling curled up against his chest. Fortunately, or not, it was his right arm, so his baldric had been able to be removed by Scott at the hospital along with his harness and toolkit, but his sleeve had been taken to with a lasercutter and this uniform was destined for the recycler.

The hangar air was cool on his exposed skin.

A quick visit to his rooms to change and then he would have to face the debrief. A little light headed, he was not looking forward to it.

The elevator wall served nicely as a crutch.

-o-o-o-

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Angry blue eyes stared at him in accusation. "I had it all under control until you screwed it all up."

"Under control? You were falling, Alan!"

"I had my grapple gun! If you hadn't grabbed me, I could have spun around and secured myself!"

"If you hadn't jumped onto that rock face, I wouldn't have had to grab you!"

He hadn't made it to the comms room. Hadn't even made it to his rooms yet. Alan had jumped him just outside the elevator and tried to rip him a new one.

"I had it under control."

"No, you didn't, Alan! You caused that slide. You knew it was fragile, why the hell did you risk it?"

"She was his wife."

"So? You risked yours, mine, the fifth climber and hers because you couldn't wait a few extra moments."

"He was in distress."

"Everybody was in distress. What the hell, Alan?" How his brother even knew the pair were married, Virgil had no idea.

"Sometimes, you are just stupid, Virgil." It was said quietly, but with malice. It froze the retort in Virgil's throat. Blue eyes looked up at him with such derision. "Just stupid." With that his little brother turned his back on him and stormed off.

-o-o-o-

Scott ran his hands through his hair and stared at his brother across the lounge. Gordon stared back, a worried expression on his face. Alan sat to his right, a ball of defiant anger. John hovered in the middle of the room, slightly distracted by something out of range of the holosensors, but frown no less prominent.

Virgil was absent.

Scott hit his comms for a second time. "Virgil? Debrief. We're waiting for you."

Nothing.

"He's in his bedroom." John's voice was calm, the hint obvious. "He's still in his uniform, so I'm still getting partial vitals." Partial due to the shredded sleeve, no doubt.

Scott sighed. This was brewing to be a nasty debrief. He had put aside his own anger pending an explanation from his youngest brother, but that same youngest brother had obviously not bothered to do the same. Standing, he straightened his shirt. "I'll check on him. You two stay here. We have a lot to cover."

Alan just glared as Gordon gave him a single nod. Brains sat in another corner completely absorbed by his tablet. He could feel Grandma's eyes following him as he left the room.

An elevator ride later, a soft knock on his brother's door had as much effect as hailing him on comms.

A flick of fingers and he overrode the lock on the door and slipped inside quietly. It wasn't the first time he had snuck into his brother's quarters and he had no doubt it wouldn't be the last, but it wasn't something he did lightly.

He found Virgil asleep on his bed, curled up on one side, his left arm outstretched, fingers limp and pointing to the tablet face down on the floor.

Scott fought the urge to roll his eyes. Leaning over, he picked up the tablet and tucked his brother's arm back onto the bed. Virgil, as predicted, didn't stir in the slightest.

Soft snores danced around the room.

Scott placed the tablet on the bedside table. Disturbed, the screen flickered to life.

With a photo of his mother.

The picture was so unexpected, it jarred him and he found the tablet in his hands again. Brown and smiling eyes stared up at him from a face that echoed her second eldest son's so much that Scott found himself swallowing. A glance at the man on the bed asked questions that weren't answered.

Straightening up, his eyes darted back to the photo, drawing in the beloved yet pain-filled details. A blink and he shut down the screen, placing the tablet back where it belonged.

Virgil's debrief could wait.

He left just as silently as he entered.

-o-o-o-

The room was dark when Virgil finally woke. The blinds were still open, the night sky darkening to a long-lost sunset and it took him a moment to work out what time of the day it was. A blink and his attempt to roll over reminded him of exactly why he was in bed.

"Augh."

Still in his uniform. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He had just needed a moment. Lightheadedness and the fog of painkillers forcing him to sit down. Sit down had become lie down and lie down had become sleep.

A sigh. At least he'd managed to take off his boots.

He stared at his bedroom ceiling. A long time ago he had taken a brush to it, swirling pastels of greens and blues into a calming abstract for moments such as these. His eyes traced the lines, travelling in a meditative path designed to create calm.

He sought it, but couldn't find it. His shoulder and arm ached, very obviously overdue for another blasted painkiller. But most of all the disdain in his little brother's eyes haunted him.

Virgil wasn't stupid. He wasn't taking his brother's words to heart. It was more the thought that his brother thought he was stupid. Sure, he was one of five extremely high achieving brothers. Unlike the other four, he had never felt the need to prove his knowledge or his skill beyond gaining his qualification. He knew what he was capable of. He had thought his brothers did, too. The thought that he didn't have that confidence cut him to the core.

Had he lost Alan's trust?

And if so, why?

Perhaps it was just words said in anger. Alan was volatile and had been known to go off the deep end in the past.

Maybe his own response to the situation was poorly considered. Thinking back and seeing his brother falling to almost certain death...no, he couldn't see another way to react. So, Alan might have been able to fire another grapple, but Virgil had been there. There was no way he was going to leave his brother's life to chance.

But then perhaps that was what Alan was angry about. Perhaps he should have trusted his little brother to have the skill to save himself.

Shit.

The thought of letting him fall...hell, Alan was his little brother. He'd prefer it was himself falling rather than Alan. From the days of yanking him out of haystacks, through to helping him with his homework, through to dropping him off at the local mall...goddamnit, he was his little brother. If he could, he would save him, regardless. It wasn't a matter of trust, it was a matter of love.

If that lined him up with smother brother number one, well, so be it.

Even if he was the stupid one in his little brother's eyes.

And yes, that still hurt.

His lips thinned. He needed to talk to Alan.

A blink.

Shit.

He'd missed debrief.

Scott would not be happy.

Grabbing his tablet, he expected to find a firm reminder or a chain of queries for a report.

A frown as one of his favourite photos of his mother appeared as the tablet flickered on.

Mom.

He stared at her smiling face for a few seconds before minimising the image. He had several photos of his mother on the tablet. They gave him strength. Reminded him of where he came from and what was important.

His messages came up, and, sure enough, at the top of the list was Scott Tracy. But the note was kindly, asking him to check in when he woke and a reminder to take his medication. Virgil found a small smile on his lips, a fondness swelling somewhere in his midsection. Sometimes it was nice to have an older brother looking out for you, smother or not.

A quick glance at the rest of his notifications and the fondness switched to awe. Several thousand messages were sitting on his blog.

Hell.

But it wasn't until his eyes landed on an extensive message from one Dr HH that his eyes nearly fell out of his head.

_Dear Doctor Green._

_It is with much admiration that I send this request for communication. I have been an avid follower of your work for the last year and feel that your work and mine would complement each other in a great many ways..._

And Brains, as it was so obviously Doctor Hiram Hackenbacker, proceeded to gush about the polymer equations as much as he had over breakfast, if not more, adding a number of high-end equations and possible applications. He didn't quite say the words 'International Rescue', nor did he mention any of the proprietary knowledge that existed only on this island, but he did end the letter with...

_...It is my hope that you will be willing to join your intellect with mine in the aim to save many lives in the future._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Dr HH_

It was as much a fan letter as a genuine request to share knowledge.

The rest of the notifications paled in comparison. Brains saw him as an intellectual equal?

He had been working with Brains for years. They had been swapping ideas forever, but Virgil had always considered the older engineer far above him in intellect. Brains invented the Thunderbirds. Virgil just kept them operational and threw the occasional idea in Brains' direction.

Hell, Brains had several doctorates. Virgil hadn't studied anywhere near that level.

It suddenly all became uncomfortable, and a little ironic considering Alan's earlier accusation.

He dropped the tablet and went back to staring at the ceiling, eyes automatically tracking the lines of swirl yet again.

The moon was rising over the edge of the sea and a breeze had picked up, tossing the palm trees around outside his window.

He knew he had to get up and face the music. Scott wanted to speak to him, he needed another dose of those brain numbing painkillers and he had to talk to his littlest brother.

Instead he lay there lost in thought.

-o-o-o-

End Part Two.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: V. T. Green

Part Three

Author: Gumnut

1 - 5 Sep 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 3174

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: I has a lurgy. This is being typed as I cough my brain silly. Very annoying. Nutty hates being sick. Sick of being sick. I hope my writing does not suffer because of it (though last time I had a lurgy I wrote Prank War, so you never know what might happen :D )

This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D Many thanks to both scribbles97 and vegetacide for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Scott eyed his eldest brother as he slunk into the kitchen. A little pale, the man had finally made it out of his uniform into jeans with his usual red flannel draped over a bare chest. By the way he was moving, Scott could tell he hadn't taken his painkillers.

A sigh. "I know you hate the pills, Virg, but you can't tell me you prefer to be in pain."

"I prefer to be able to think."

"Pain hampers healing."

"Yes, Mom."

Scott's lips thinned. "Pills or Grandma. Your choice." Sometimes the big guns were necessary.

"Scott..."

"Hey, if our roles were reversed, what would you do?"

The glare wilted along with his brother's shoulders. That prompted a grimace and tensed up Scott's shoulders in turn. Goddamnit, Virg. He stood up from where he was seated at the breakfast bar and striding across to his brother, gently steered the man to a seat at the table. "Sit down and stay put."

That prompted another glare, but Scott ignored it, darting up the stairs and beyond into the residential levels and Virgil's room. Sure enough, the bottle sat beside his bed, seal still intact. A grab and a jog back down to the kitchen...

...and Virgil had his head buried in the refrigerator.

He dumped the pills on the bench. "I thought I told you to sit."

"I'm hungry."

"Sit down and I will get you some dinner."

"I can make my own dinner. I can at least do that."

"Virgil-"

"I'm fine, Scott, just leave it." A pair of frowning brown eyes glared at him over the fridge door.

Scott mirrored that frown. You want stubborn, just try me.

Virgil must have seen it in his expression, because the glare intensified.

"Sit down, Virgil."

"Is that an order, Commander."

"If necessary."

The butter was yanked out of the refrigerator and thrown onto the counter with a loud clatter. The bread joined it and tumbled as it hit the laminate. A jar followed that would have fallen on the floor and smashed if Scott didn't reach out and catch it. "What the hell? What's wrong with you?"

"Just making myself some dinner."

"Sit down!"

"I am fully capable of making myself dinner!"

"Sit down!"

"Scott-"

"Damn it, Virgil, if you don't sit down, I will make you sit down."

That arched an eyebrow. "You could try."

"Either you sit down and stop being stupid, or I'll get Grandma in here and you can discuss it with her."

A plate hit the stone flags and smashed, clinking shards scattering across the floor.

Scott jumped. Virgil stared at him for a solid moment before crouching down and picking up pieces of crockery.

Scott didn't miss the flinch of pain the movement caused.

For god's sake. "Virgil-"

"Leave it, Scott, just leave it."

There was something in his brother's voice, something hurt.

"V-"

"For Christ's sake, what do I have to say to you? Just leave me the hell alone!" Broken crockery was shoved into the kitchen bin. Virgil grabbed a broom and swept up the mess one-handed without saying another word. The butter, bread and jar of spread were thrown back into the refrigerator and without a glance back, his brother hit the stairs and left.

Scott stared after him.

The bottle of pills sat alone on the bench.

-o-o-o-

"J-John, have you heard of V. T. Green?"

The astronaut turned around at Brains' voice, the expected hologram flickering into being. "Good evening, Brains." A hand reached out and shifted two situations to Resolved. A flick of his wrist and another landed in Not Required. "Who is V. T. Green?"

The engineer sighed. "I thought that at least y-you would know him. The m-man is a b-brilliant engineer."

"Sounds more like Virgil's wheelhouse." He flicked a finger at the tropical low growing in strength just north of Western Australia and flagged it for more regular monitoring.

"Virgil h-hasn't heard of him either. Wh-Which I find strange. I h-have been following Green's b-blog for s-some time and I b-believe his w-work could be very useful for International Rescue."

Now that gave him pause. John couldn't recall Brains ever saying such a thing about any other scientist...well, except Moffie and that was for a completely different reason. "That's high praise coming from you."

"He d-deserves it. Have a look at this polymer."

A series of equations appeared at John's elbow. A glance soon became a frown of concentration. "Am I reading this correctly? Self healing?"

"Y-Yes. It w-would be invaluable for the Thunderbirds."

A pause. "So, you want to contact this guy? Have you spoken to Scott? Kayo?"

The engineer tilted his head to one side. "I h-have attempted to gather some inform-mation, b-but haven't had much success. I w-was hoping you m-might have b-better luck?"

John turned and eyed his friend. "You want me to run a check on him?" In other words, hack his blog and find out as much as possible.

"So I can g-go to Scott with enough d-detail to reassure him."

Now that was a point. Scott was notoriously paranoid when it came to IR's security. As bad, if not worse than Kayo. Brains was right to build a solid case.

"I can do. How much information do you need?"

"W-Whatever you can find."

"FAB."

"Thank you, John."

"Not a problem."

His hologram blinked out.

-o-o-o-

Scott couldn't help himself. He followed his brother up the stairs to his room. What the hell was wrong with Virgil? It was so unlike him to get so angry with so little provocation.

Debrief had been nasty. Alan was defiant and angry and hurt. Without Virgil there to balance the scales, things had gotten out of hand quickly, the whole meeting devolving into a shouting match. Even John had started yelling.

Alan had stormed off, Gordon chasing after him.

Scott had been so angry. Virgil's life had been endangered and all for a battle of wills. Grandma's hand on his arm and her soft voice had snapped him out of it.

Damn.

He hated it when his brothers were injured. It wasn't major, Virgil's injury would heal, but still, all because Alan did something stupid.

He stood outside his brother's closed door for a full two minutes before he raised his hand to knock.

"Scott? We have a situation." John's voice was soft.

He let his arm drop.

He would have to speak to Virgil later.

Apparently.

-o-o-o-

It took him another three hours, part of which involved sending Scott out to pluck yet another climber off the side of a mountain, before John had a chance to focus on the task Brains had requested.

The site itself appeared simple. Admittedly, John was a little distracted at first by its content. Brains was correct. The author definitely was someone to be admired. Admittedly, John's knowledge of engineering wasn't as extensive as Brains or Virgil's but there were definitely some very elegant solutions presented on the site. A glance at the source code, a dig for the originating IP address and John easily found the site's host in Silicon Valley, California. He launched a data miner and pulled the site logs searching for IPs that had accessed the site for publishing in an attempt to locate the author.

That's when he hit a snag. According to the logs, each post had been created and posted from a different address. Sure, this was possible with an IP cloak, but it shouldn't be possible to avoid his hack of that cloak.

He tracked one address through China to Russia and back out again to Spain, of all places, before he lost it at an exchange in Portugal. Another fed through Indonesia, six different servers in Japan, only to jump to a commercial satellite and claim it came from the Moon. John followed six more addresses before he discovered the layered encryption and the redirection code hidden under it.

"Oh, he's good. Very good." The logs themselves had been encoded to redirect the very same kind of hack John was attempting.

It took him another half hour to break the code that kept trying to lead him off on a wild goose chase.

And another hour to trace the server path through half the planet and then some - it did actually go via the moon, using some ancient tech not destroyed by the meteor shower that took out Moonbase Alpha.

By the time he finally tracked down the origin of the posts, John was beyond impressed.

When he discovered the identity of V. T. Green, he understood why.

It was so obvious, he should have known.

-o-o-o-

_Dear V.T. Green. I represent a good company..._

_Hey, V.T. I am totally loving your stuff. You should go into business..._

_Doctor Green. Our university is very interested in gaining your services..._

_Sir, I need your help..._

That last one caught his attention initially, but it devolved into a blatant scam two paragraphs in. It left him depressed.

He let his tablet fall onto his desk and his head into his one working hand. He had no idea what to do about all the requests for his assistance. Six different universities plus three other thought centres had replied, all ever so complimentary of his intellect. One laugh had been the fact that the Denver School of Advanced Technology was one of them. The bonus had been the admirer was a lecturer who had hated his guts.

Part of him wanted to reply and rub his face in it.

The tablet pinged again and Virgil was tempted to chuck the whole thing in the trash.

_Message from Dr HH._

Virgil stared at it for a good minute before he inevitably touched the screen to open it.

_Dear Doctor Green._

Why did half of them think he was a doctor? He had never claimed to be.

_I have written you before, but I do not trust the vagaries of the internet and I feel the need to make sure you receive my request._

Virgil sighed. He was going to have to say something soon. This was unfair to Brains.

The letter went on to reiterate Brains' suggestions regarding the polymer and reinforce the impression that they would be able to save lives.

Save lives.

It was what he did. And yes, that polymer could do that, as part of the Thunderbirds, but also if he released the rights to the design. Space and underwater habitats sorely needed the tech.

Of course, he had yet to run tests. Nothing practical had been experimented. It could all be a big hype over a big failure.

Another sigh and he closed his eyes. He hadn't eaten, but he wasn't hungry any more. His shoulder and arm hated him and his pills were down in the kitchen. To reach them, he would have to navigate the house and hope he didn't run into any family members. He just didn't feel like...explaining himself.

Perhaps he could crawl back into bed and find sleep again.

He stood up...and the emergency alarm cut off everything.

His response was reflex and he was out the door before processing another thought. He hit the elevator before he remembered he was off rescues, the car carrying him down to the comms room and dumping him there.

Damn.

But to be honest he really couldn't not find out what was going on. He had a need to know where his brothers might be sent, no matter how it grated that he couldn't go with them.

So, with some reluctance, he slunk around the corner into the comms room, forcing a positive gait across to the lounge where he parked himself, spine straight.

Gordon eyed him from across the other side of the circle, an eyebrow arching. Scott rose from behind their father's desk and jogged down the steps and sat next to Virgil.

Virgil blinked. A flash of blue, a frown and thinned lips greeted him.

Damn. That would have to be fixed sooner rather than later.

Alan was the last to arrive, darting in from the kitchen and sitting beside Gordon. His eyes tracked across Virgil, but didn't acknowledge him.

Out the corner of his eye, he saw Grandma frown.

"What's the situation, John?"

"This is a big one. Remember the Grand Sequoia Dam?"

"A little hard to forget."

"They are reporting fractures in the dam wall and they are claiming it has to do with our hasty repairs last time."

"What?" Virgil shot to his feet. "I checked and double checked the seal. I even went back and conducted stress testing. There is no way that dam wall could be failing because of our repairs. The nanocrete is stronger than the entire wall itself."

John stared at him a moment before continuing. "Whatever the cause, they are claiming the wall is failing. An evac order has gone out to the town below, but they are concerned there will not be enough time. They've called us, and Virgil in particular, to assist."

A frown and Virgil was pulling up scans and diagrams of the dam. Their assessment was correct. The wall was failing. A frown. It shouldn't be. The volume of water currently pressing on it simply didn't have the energy to create the situation. A flick of his hand and he spun the view. For this to happen there needed to be pressure from this angle with a much higher amplitude.

"Virgil is injured." It was Grandma who broached the obvious.

"I'm going."

That sprouted a whole array of glares.

He straightened where he stood. "I need to know what is causing this."

"You can do that from here." Of course, Scott would object.

"No, I prefer to be onsite."

"You're injured."

"No kidding. I will ride in Two with Gordon." He didn't miss the sudden widening of Gordon's eyes at that comment. "Nothing energetic." Scott was still glaring. "There are some things that have to be seen in person."

Scott's lips thinned. He was pedantic about injured brothers, as was Virgil, but there was something about the situation, something odd, and it was Virgil's reputation at stake here. Due to the use of the nanocrete, a proprietary substance unique to IR, he had signed off the safety on the dam, and it was safe.

But not now.

"I'm going."

Brains, who had been quiet up to this point, rose slowly from where he sat. "I agree with Virgil."

"Brains..." Grandma was admonishing.

"This shouldn't b-be happening." He pointed at the crack in the dam. "The structure is d-designed to w-withstand strain far b-beyond what it is currently under. The n-nanocrete cannot be responsible, yet they are accusing us. Why?"

Scott stared at Brains. "You think this is targeted?"

"It is possible."

"The Hood?"

"Unknown, but I do think we n-need Virgil onsite for this. He has the civil knowledge n-needed."

"Why can't you go?" Alan piped up, still not paying any attention to Virgil.

Brains blinked and frowned at the young astronaut. "Y-you are aware that V-Virgil is the more qualified engineer in this instance?"

"What?"

It was Gordon who rounded on his little brother. "You been living under a rock, bro? Virg is the man when it comes to this stuff. You know that."

Blue eyes frowned. "I just thought Brains could go since Virgil is injured."

"I could, b-but Virgil's knowledge is greater."

Finally, Alan turned to him, but Virgil no longer had the time. "We need to get moving, that dam is not going to hold much longer."

Scott shot to his feet. "Thunderbirds are go."

-o-o-o-

It was odd going out on a rescue in Two, but not flying her. Virgil's arm was still in a sling and strapped up, curled against his chest. Brains had made sure it was secure after helping him into his uniform. It hurt, but it was necessary.

The co-pilot's seat had just a slightly different view.

Gordon launched her just as smoothly as Virgil would have. Alan sat quiet behind the both of them. As soon as they were airborne and stable, the young astronaut excused himself, muttering something about seeing to the pods.

The moment he was gone, Gordon didn't waste any time poking the bear.

"What's with you and Alan?"

"Nothing." He really didn't want to go into it.

The eyebrow arched at him was so similar to what Virgil would have done if their roles had been reversed, he almost smiled.

"Sounds like a pile of horse dung, but I'll let you go with it."

Virgil turned and stared at his brother.

Gordon didn't react. "You know you scared the shit out of him, don't you?"

"What?"

"He screwed up and his big brother got hurt." Gordon flicked his gaze between the instruments and Virgil. "Scott reamed him out big time at debrief. You weren't there and he really let rip."

"Shit." It came out under his breath.

"John lassoed him instead, but he didn't respond as fast as you would have. Alan was kicking himself before that. By the time Scott had finished with him, he was on the verge of never going out on a rescue ever again."

"He made a mistake. We all make mistakes."

"He made a dick move, Virg. He didn't listen to you or Scott and thought he knew better." A snort. "I should know. Been there, done that, learnt the hard way." A smirk. "First rule of International Rescue: If Virgil says it is, it is." The smirk became a grin. "And woe be he who thinks otherwise."

"Gordon..."

"I'm not kidding." And the grin vanished, replaced by genuine honesty. "You know what you are talking about. You're good at what you do." A glance back at his flight path. "He should have listened to you."

Virgil stared at his little brother. It took him a moment to gather himself. "Thank you, Gordon."

The aquanaut shrugged. "Eh, I learnt the hard way, but I learnt. Anyway, you should probably talk to Alan."

Virgil shifted in his seat and his shoulder complained loudly. He stared down at his feet. "Yeah, I should."

There was silence in the cockpit for a bit. Virgil was caught up in what he should say to his littlest brother and Gordon quietly eyeing him.

The silence was obviously too much for Gordon. "So, who is this V. T. Green Brains keeps raving about?"

Virgil flinched; the question completely unexpected.

Gordon frowned at him. "What? What do you know about him?"

"Nothing."

An amber blink. "Bullshit, Virg, you're looking guilty as. What do you know? Scott said Brains was interested in inviting the guy to the island."

Virgil's head shot up and his shoulder screamed at him. Ow.

Gordon's frown tried to cleave his face in half. "What the hell, Virgil? If you know something, why haven't you said anything? Brains is going nuts trying to find this...guy." And Gordon was staring at him in shock. "Oh my god."

Virgil glared at him. "What?"

"It's you."

-o-o-o-

End Part Three


	4. Chapter 4

Title: V. T. Green

Part Four

Author: Gumnut

5 - 21 Sep 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 2916

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: Apologies for the delay on this. I had some major writing mojo interruptions in the last month due to illness. But the brain is working okay at the moment and I wrote a good chunk of this today. So much for a four parter, possibly a six parter now ::headdesk:: I knew I shouldn't have estimated it.

This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D Many thanks to both scribbles97 and vegetacide for all their wonderful help with this.

Thank you for all your wonderful support with this. I hope you enjoy this bit. There is more to come. ::hugs you all::

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

"It's you." Gordon was staring at him.

"Who?" Shit.

"V. T. Green. Oh god, it is so obvious. Virgil Tracy and his Green Machine." Gordon let out drawn out laugh. "Hoo, this is a good one."

"Gordon!" What the hell had happened?

"Yes, my genius bro? Ooh, when do I get this self-healing polymer upgrade to Four? Sounds totally cool."

"I don't even know if it works yet."

And Gordon was staring at him again with a small triumphant smile on his face. "Genius bro."

"Shut up." But it was half-hearted and Virgil found himself half-smiling.

There was silence a moment, Gordon turning his attention back to Two. Virgil fiddled with his sling.

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Didn't know what to say."

"But this is major, Virg. Brains is ecstatic about this guy, well, about you. When he finds out V. T. Green has been under his nose all this time..." Gordon frowned at him. "What is it?"

Virgil shrugged.

His brother's frown deepened. "What is it, bro?"

He didn't answer, looking away.

But then...he straightened his shoulders. Voice quiet. "You're right. It is obvious."

A pause as his brother processed that. "Aww, shit, Virg."

"Thunderbird Two, Thunderbird One is on site. You need to get here fast, Virgil. We will need to deploy nanocrete as soon as you get here. The wall is not going to hold."

"FAB, Thunderbird One."

And they were on approach, all conversation was killed off as business came to the fore. Gordon landed Two beside the dam in the same spot Virgil parked her last time.

The scans at this proximity only screamed louder that the dam was on the verge of collapse. "Gordon, I want you and Alan to reinforce the structure here, here and here." He pointed at a hologram of the dam. "Use a crosshatch deployment. These are the weakest points. Once they are secured, we will need a structural pattern from here to here to here. That will secure the wall until the water can be released slowly."

"FAB, Virg."

Virgil eyed him before reaching out his good arm and squeezing his brother's shoulder. "Thanks, Gordon."

The aquanaut smiled just a little, but the expression in his eyes told Virgil that their conversation wasn't finished.

Virgil rose Two up on her struts and let his brothers out in the helipods, watching them for just a moment as they flew down and began pumping nanocrete onto the face of the dam. The wall would be secured, but if what he thought was the cause, the dam was doomed long term.

The question was why?

Pushing himself awkwardly out of his seat, he grabbed his molecular analyser and a portable scanner. "John, can you send the structural readouts to my HUD?" He fumbled with his helmet. This was a darn sight easier with two hands.

Muttered profanity and he secured it and turned to the hatch. Perhaps now he would get some answers.

-o-o-o-

Scott held back the urge to swear. The dam supervisor was an excitable man who just would not shut up.

"Sir, we will have the wall secured shortly."

"Are you sure? You're not using that stuff you used last time, are you? You are the reason we are in this predicament in the first place."

"I assure you, sir, we know what we are doing."

The first responder had ignored several accusations like this already. TB2 appeared on the horizon, moments later lowering to an efficient landing. The man kept babbling.

"I spoke to your engineer last time and he said exactly the same thing. Look what happened."

"Sir-"

The two helipods launched from Two's module and immediately the man upped his anger. "What?! You're using more of that crap?!" The man, dragging his assistant, ran to the edge of the dam wall, staring down as Gordon and Alan started spraying nanocrete on the concrete face. Behind him, he heard Two's hatch lower.

Finally. Virgil could slam this guy down with facts.

His injured brother had his helmet on and an armful of equipment. Ignoring the supervisor, Scott strode over to give him a hand. "Warning, Virg, excitable, blaming and annoying."

His brother eyed him. "FAB."

"You! You're the one responsible for this travesty." A blink as the man eyed Virgil's sling. "What the hell happened to you?"

Virgil ignored the question. "Mr Windemere, the nanocrete cannot be responsible for this incident. It is just not possible."

"Prove it! You refused to give us the composition. It is a substance unknown to science outside of your little business. How can I trust you?"

Scott flared at that. The nerve!

"We are wasting time. I need to ascertain the cause of the wall's pending collapse. Please excuse me." Virgil stepped around the supervisor and headed towards the walkway across the dam. Windemere hurried to follow, his assistant on his tail.

"What the hell are you doing? That is for authorised personnel only."

Scott stepped in front of him, cutting him off from Virgil. "Mr Windemere, we will find the cause. Please let us work."

"No!" The man puffed up his chest, but he was still too many inches shorter than Scott to have any impact.

Out the corner of his eye, Virgil was working his way along the span of the dam, scanner in hand. Over the edge and down below, the pods' pumps threw liquid nanocrete at the wall in a reassuring rumbling percussion.

"Scott!"

Windemere was glaring at him. "Please excuse me." He turned and strode towards his brother.

Predictably the supervisor followed.

Scott sighed to himself.

"I need to rappel down the face of the dam."

Scott blinked. "Are you kidding me?"

"Scott-"

"Forget it. Tell me what you need and I'll do it. You cannot do it one armed."

"Scott..." His brother grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the supervisor. Barely a whisper. "I'm ninety-five percent sure this is sabotage. The dam is suffering from concrete cancer, a condition that takes longer to develop than this dam has existed. But I need proof. I need to scan the seal we made last time."

"Can't the pods do it?"

"No, the pods need to secure the structure otherwise this valley is going to be full of concrete and dam water in a very short time. It is literally crumbling under our feet." Brown eyes fixed on him. "I need to examine it myself. This isn't something you can do."

Scott stared at him. This is why he didn't want his injured brother on a mission. Because the man could not resist 'helping'. "No. We will do it later."

"There is no later, Scott! By this time tomorrow, this dam will all most certainly be rubble no matter how we try to reinforce it. I need to examine it now! We need the proof."

He didn't like it at all. If his lips thinned any further, he would probably lose one due to lack of circulation. "You are not rappelling down there." He held up a hand as his brother opened his mouth. "I will secure you in a harness and lower you myself. Below Thunderbird One." His brother glared at him. "That is the only way this is happening, Virgil, and I'm not happy about it in the slightest so take what I'm giving you or forget it altogether."

Brown glared at him, but his brother subsided. Virgil was so two faced about injury. If any of his brothers, including Scott himself, had tried this, he would have shut them down faster than they could open their mouth. But Virgil? No, that was different. There was going to be a long hard talk after this.

Scott turned towards his 'bird only to have Windemere jump into his face again. "What are you doing now?"

For the love of-

"What we have to do, Mr Windemere. Please excuse us."

"No, I won't let you sabotage this dam any further! You caused this. I know it!"

Scott turned on the man ever so slowly, intentionally emphasising his power and capability. Windemere cowered just a little, but attempted to straighten his spine regardless.

"Mr Windemere, this dam is endangering the lives of all the people in the town below. International Rescue will secure the structure to give those people the chance to escape and to give the water as much time as possible to drain away before this wall collapses."

"Collapses?! What do you mean, collapses?"

Virgil took a step forward. "The reinforcing within the dam wall has corroded and, in the process, expanded, microfracturing the concrete throughout the structure. This dam is failing, Mr Windemere. What you are standing on right now will be at the bottom of the valley by tomorrow. Our priority is to release the water in as a controlled manner as possible and secure the safety of people downstream."

"I don't believe you."

Scott stared at the man. Virgil eyed the administrator for one moment before turning away, his shoulder nudging Scott into movement. "I need your assistance, Commander."

Right. "Mr Windemere, or you..." Scott indicated the man being dragged around by the windbag. "That water needs to be released as fast and as safely as possible. We could do it, trust me, we could." It wouldn't take John long to hack the dam's systems or Scott to follow up on his threat. "But as per International Rescue protocol, you are required to take our recommendations in an emergency. I can get the GDF out here, in fact, I will have to anyway, so if you would like to save what little career you have left, I'd start draining that dam now."

The assistant paled and took several steps back. Windemere pursed his lips and glared like his head was about to explode, but he turned away and stalked off.

Scott glared at his back. "Thunderbird Five, monitor output of the dam. I need to know if the water is being released fast and safely."

"FAB." John's response was sharp enough that Scott wouldn't be surprised if his brother or Eos were already in the dam controls.

Virgil was stalking towards Thunderbird One, shucking off his sling in the process.

For god's sake. Scott strode after him. "What the hell, Virgil? Put that back on."

"If you think I'm hanging off your 'bird with one arm immobilised, you're dreaming."

For the love of...just give me strength. Scott drew in a breath and forced the words he wanted to shout at his brother back down his throat. "You injure yourself further, I'm setting Grandma on you. Home cooking and all."

That hit home and Virgil shot an angry glare in his direction.

-o-o-o-

Virgil tolerated his hovering brother because he had to. It was understandable. He had to admit that if their positions were reversed, Virgil's hair would be going grey and there would be words.

So many words.

But it had to be done. Virgil had the knowledge and the equipment and they had to find out why this was happening. It couldn't be the nanocrete. It wasn't possible. But to prove that in a court of law, they would have to expose the formula to public examination. That could release the technology to who knew who.

And Virgil had some suspicions.

But still, did Scott really have to fuss that much? It wasn't like he was Alan or Gordon, really?

His big brother secured the extra harness to Virgil's uniform, the inbuilt harness apparently not enough for a one-armed engineer or younger brother.

"Scott, it is secure."

"Never hurts to be extra sure, Virgil. You of all people know that." The man kept fiddling at the connections, checking they were safe.

"We need to do this today, you know."

That earned him a blue-eyed glare. Another tug at the harness and his brother let him go. "Hang on with the arm that does work."

Virgil returned the glare, reluctant to admit, that yes, his injured arm was a mess of pain and, no, he did not want to move it at all. His instruments hung from his belt for one handed access, but he needed his injured arm free in case of emergency.

His brother turned towards the cockpit. "Be safe, Virgil, please."

A frown. "I will do my best."

His brother didn't answer, moving to his pilot's seat. Moments and they were airborne.

It wasn't often Virgil flew in One and this was one of the shortest flights in history, but he couldn't help but feel his brother's 'bird roar beneath his feet. She felt so different to Two, almost alien, yet so...Scott.

It was almost as if being held by One, he was being held by his brother.

He sighed and shook his head. The ache was making him maudlin.

One shot up into the air, gliding smoothly sideways over the rim of the dam.

"Hang tight, Virgil, I'm opening the hatch and will lower you down slowly."

True to his brother's word, the harness gently lifted Virgil from his feet as the hatch below him yawned open. Far below, Gordon and Alan darted back and forth across the dam wall. Now moving into the second phase of reinforcement and creating a spiderweb of support across the whole structure.

Scott lowered him down toward the centre of the dam, where older nanocrete shone dully in the sunlight.

He urged Scott to move him closer, lower, a little more. There. He reached out first with scanner.

The nanocrete was stable. The same it had been the last time he examined the crack. As it spanned the internal width of the wall right through to the water beyond, Virgil had no doubt it was the strongest part of the structure, totally unaffected by the cancerous concrete around it.

As to that cancerous concrete.

Scans came up worse than any of the others he had managed already.

Hell.

The nanocrete was sitting in a fragile souffle of degraded construction material. Windemere was right. This was likely at least part of the source of the issue.

But it couldn't be the nanocrete. The substance worked on an entirely different chemical level to that of standard concrete. There was also no way it could have caused the substrate to disintegrate...

Wait.

What the hell?

His HUD flickered back to the reading and zoomed in.

You've got to be kidding me.

He scanned further to the left.

Another one.

To the right.

Shit.

And a number of unrepeatable words.

"What the hell is going on down there, Virgil?!"

"Some bastard has used a microlaser to inject corrosive material into the dam's concrete."

And there was another one. Ultrafine bore holes reaching deep into the structure. So fine that only IR technology would have been able to find them.

They were everywhere.

Initially focussed around the original repair, but as he asked Scott to move his position, he found them at equal spaces all across the dam face.

To say it was suspected sabotage was one thing. To actually find the proof...

"Virgil, if I said those words, you'd be joining Grandma with the soap in cleaning out my mouth."

"It's worth it." An awkward flick of his comms. "Thunderbird Five, can you access satellite imagery and the dam's records and find out if anyone has been out on this dam face since we repaired it? I need everything you can find. There is no doubt that this is sabotage." Scott was drawing him back up into the belly of his 'bird, ever so gently.

"FAB." John's voice was tight.

Virgil felt like kicking something.

So many lives endangered. Why?

-o-o-o-

It was a question that wasn't answered until long after the dam had been as secured as possible. Long after Thunderbird Two airlifted the last of the downstream inhabitants out of the way of the impending deluge. After Gordon and Alan had switched from helipods to bulldozers and built in as much flow redirection into the valley as possible. After Scott used One to airlift pallet after pallet of sandbags to assist the GDF in protecting the town.

After Virgil had yelled himself hoarse and had to be dragged away by that same older brother as Windemere refused to assist.

After John hacked the system and began the water release.

After Colonel Casey stepped in and arrested the dam supervisor.

After Scott dragged Virgil back to Two and yelled at him until he sat down.

"What the hell is going on with you, Virgil?" His expression was more worried than angry. "This isn't you."

He was in the medbay. Scott's preference, despite lack of any injury. Well, more than he already had. That was enough. His arm ached abominably, despite having been returned to its sling.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Scott, but this situation puts us in a difficult position."

"How?"

"Proprietary nanocrete. Only we know the formula and the properties. Accused of crippling a dam. We have proof it was sabotage. But only proof using equally proprietary technology, which we can't share. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. They have our asses over a barrel and one way or the other, to clear our names, we will have to divulge some of our technology. And to top it all off, the proof is crumbling as we speak. By tomorrow, there will only be our scans, using our technology, to prove that our technology isn't to blame for this multi-million-dollar catastrophe."

-o-o-o-

End Part Four


	5. Chapter 5

Title: V. T. Green

Part Five

Author: Gumnut

21 - 22 Sep 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 3282

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: Ooh, two parts in two days. I'm on a roll :D I hope you enjoy it :D

This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D Many thanks to scribbles97, vegetacide and thunderstorm-bay for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Scott was staring at him as if lost for words. The medbay suddenly felt very small.

John's voice interrupted. "Virgil?"

Virgil cleared his throat and shifted where he sat. "Yes, John." His arm twinged and he grit his teeth. Damn it.

"I have something you will be interested in."

"Tell me you've found who did it."

"I think you know who did it."

What?

"Well, I don't know. Tell me." Virgil's revelation had obviously sunk into his brother. His eyes were glittering with anger.

"About a month after we saved the dam, Windemere ordered a check on the nanocrete. A crew was sent out, but the results were inconclusive. Records show that there was no concern regarding integrity, but a sample of the nanocrete was taken."

"They messed with our stuff?" Scott was building up a fine head of steam.

"Hardly our stuff, Scott. Besides, Brains has molecularly masked the nanocrete anyway. They had no way to reverse engineer the formula."

"So why take a sample? It would have been a bitch to hack off."

"Diamond cutter coupled with a microlaser."

"Microlaser." Virgil jumped on the word like a life buoy in the middle of the ocean. "Windemere did this?"

"According to the dam records."

"Did they go out again?"

"Yes, a month later. Reason was recorded as another integrity check."

"That's when they did it." Virgil bit his lip.

"I concur." There was something in John's voice. "I have several images from Global Two on that day." Images were shunted down to the medbay's holoprojector.

There were only four and the camera had been focussed on the town, not the dam, but when John looped them into sequence, the crew, dark against the stark white concrete wall moved in a familiar pattern, touching first the central position of the nanocrete followed by the weak points Alan and Gordon had shored up earlier in the day.

"Windemere."

"Yes."

"But why?"

"An opportunity, perhaps?"

"By sacrificing his own dam? His own career?"

"A gamble that is still to pay off?" John's voice wasn't quite as calm as usual.

Virgil straightened where he sat. "It is not going to pay off." He threw himself to his feet. "We need Aunt Val and I need to see Windemere."

He turned to leave and ran slap bang into his brother. The shock shook his frame and his arm.

"What the hell, Scott?"

"Where do you think you are going? I told you to get some rest."

"I'm fine."

"You're not even supposed to be here. You're supposed to be home in bed."

"I'm fine! This needs to be done and it needs to be done now." He glared up at his brother. Of all the frustrating...

"Goddamnit, Virgil, you have to push it, don't you." Scott's voice had dropped rather than risen which meant he was beyond pissed and well into apoplectic. "I will speak to this guy. You sit your ass down now."

"Scott-"

"No! And don't you think I'm ever taking you out on a rescue injured ever again."

Virgil straightened, his glare a physical heat between them. "Do you think I enjoy doing this? Do you think I am into self-flagellation? I do this because it has to be done. I do this because I am the only one who can do it."

"Bullshit, Virg! I can fly Brains out here in no time."

And there it was, the core of the matter. "Brains is a mechanical engineer, Scott. He's a goddamned genius, but when in the hell is this family going to realise I have my own specialities. I may not have a pile of blasted paper to prove it, but you've always trusted me. Always. Why not now?!"

It took Scott down a peg, his shoulders shifting as he let out a frustrated sigh. "You're injured."

"I have a weakened arm. There is nothing wrong with my brain, Scott, and that is what is needed here. No heavy lifting, no mechanical aid, no Thunderbird Two, just me and what is between my ears. For god's sake, trust me."

"I do."

"Then let me do this."

"Virgil..."

"Oh, for the love of... no wonder most of you haven't worked it out." Frustrated, Virgil used his left shoulder to push past his brother. "Thunderbird Five, could you please put me through to Aunt Val?"

"FAB." Whether John had overheard their discussion or not - he probably had - he did not react to it at all.

Virgil strode out the medbay, heading for the hatch so his girl could let him down onto the worn asphalt his 'bird was parked on. Scott followed without a word. Whether or not what had been said made a difference, Virgil did not know. Chances are Scott would pick up the conversation later and rip strips off him, but too bad. This had to be done now.

-o-o-o-

Scott was furious.

He followed his brother out of his 'bird and into the evening light. Far down below the dam, water gushed into the stream, desperate to empty the reservoir.

Whatever John said to their Aunt, it had her appearing in a GDF flyer almost immediately, the vehicle hovering to allow both brothers to board.

"Scott, I have to say I am happy to have you boys here on this one. Thank you so much for all your assistance with the evacuation and shoring up the town."

Keeping a polite face, Scott buried his anger at his brother to maintain civility. He would save it for later. "It is what we do, Colonel."

"Well, I am very happy that you do it. Now, John said your request was urgent." The flyer lifted slowly.

Scott looked at his brother. Okay, Virgil, this is your play.

A flash of brown in his direction. "Colonel, we need to speak to Windemere. I have some suspicions I need confirmed."

"Windemere is in the brig. He did nothing but hamper attempts to prevent this disaster. I have questions of my own."

Virgil straightened his shoulders. "I need to see him. It is important."

Casey flicked a glance at Scott, who tilted his head just a little. Virgil's shoulders tensed beside him.

Okay, maybe Virgil had a point.

"Virgil needs to speak to the dam supervisor. He has some technical questions."

Casey lowered her eyes to the younger brother, her lips pursed just a little. "Very well."

-o-o-o-

There was an empty cabin and a couple of chairs. To be honest, Virgil was quite happy to sit down. Scott was right. He shouldn't be here, but it was no good wishing for what he couldn't have. Work with what you've got. It was a Jeff Tracy motto, one Virgil Tracy kept close to his heart.

Of course, the pissed off mother hen beside him, didn't fail to notice his sag into the chair. Even Aunt Val was eyeing him with concern.

Fine! He had a bent wing, but for god's sake, he was okay.

Scott furrowed his brow.

Virgil turned away and ignored him.

Windemere was led into the room. Both the GDF and Thunderbird Five were recording this interview. Virgil desperately needed an independent eye that wasn't IR to see what this man had done.

"Mr Windemere, these two agents of International Rescue have requested to speak to you. Please answer their questions fully and to the best of your knowledge."

The man snorted. "I know my rights. I don't have to say anything."

"That is your choice, but you will find that the charges being laid against you will go kindlier if you help."

"Is that a threat?"

Casey straightened, an eyebrow arching. "No, Mr Windemere, a simple fact." The Colonel turned and took another seat towards the back of the room witnessing the interview as Virgil had requested.

Windemere turned to Virgil. "So, have you finished destroying my dam."

"As I have repeatedly said, Mr Windemere, the dam's disintegration was not caused by our repairs."

"Prove it." It was almost a snarl.

Virgil arched an eyebrow. "We have. It must have taken you some time to laser bore all those holes into the dam wall."

"What holes?"

Virgil poked at his holoprojector and his scan results appeared for all to see.

He didn't miss the quietly indrawn breath of his Aunt behind him.

Windemere was suddenly very still. His expression wasn't perfect, the man was too stupid for that.

But not stupid enough.

"And I suppose you put that together with your little proprietary gadget that no one else knows anything about?"

"These scan results were achieved using a standard IR structural scanner, a device we use to locate structural defects, load points and hidden support mechanisms. I used the same scanner last week to calculate the weakest point in a brick wall in order to save a toddler from a fire. Yes, they are proprietary and no, you can't see their schematics. The scan, however, is correct and true to fact."

The snarl returned. "Why should I believe you."

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Because you destroyed my dam."

"We did not destroy your dam."

"Prove it."

"I just did."

"Well, isn't that just perfect for you. All that data that no one else can prove right or wrong, we just have to believe you are not lying." His lip actually curled like a dog's. "But you are."

Virgil let it wash over him. Beside him, Scott was stiff as a board.

"What possible reason would International Rescue have to want to destroy the Grand Sequoia Dam?"

"To hide your own screw up."

"What screw up?"

"The damage that your fancy concrete did to the dam."

"There was no damage."

"Prove it."

Scott's knuckles creaked as his fist tightened.

Virgil didn't dare look in his direction.

"Mr Windemere, what are your qualifications?"

The man blinked, the question coming out of left field, but he straightened somewhat, obviously proud of his own achievements. "I am a graduate of the highest ranked engineering college in the world, Denver, of course."

Virgil knew this; John had briefed them both on Windemere's background prior to this little interview, but the engineer was still caught between laughing and cursing the fact this idiot was a product of the same educational institution he was.

Goes to show that education is certainly not everything.

"Were you there when Abby Applegate blew up the Chem Lab building?"

The man actually snorted. "I dated Abby Applegate."

Well, that explained a lot. Abby Applegate was legendary at Denver. She was a genius, but not too bright on so many other fronts. Her theories were breakthrough, her execution catastrophic. The woman had been at Denver forever and yet she still hadn't graduated. Virgil suspected the College kept her on campus as a public service while farming her for her brilliance.

Windemere frowned. "You went to Denver?!" His eyes widened. "You're Virgil Tracy!"

"Yes." The man was an idiot. Their attendance only overlapped by one year, but then Windemere had been there long before Virgil ever set foot on campus.

"Son of Jeff Tracy." And there was the inevitable.

"Yes."

"You work for International Rescue?"

Virgil's arm was aching and his patience growing short. "Abby Applegate is brilliant. She was a core contributor to today's hover technology. Did you know that?"

Windemere stared at him. "Sure. What has that got to do with anything?"

"Do you remember the Pacific seaquakes several years ago? The Tsunami Disaster? Abby Applegate was responsible for designing the technology that enabled the Hood to create those seaquakes. She didn't know, or, I suspect, care, who got their hands on the technology. She released the designs as a theoretical. The Hood got his hands on them and the world suffered for it." He pinned the man with his eyes. "This is why International Rescue technology is proprietary. This is why we don't release our designs or formulas. Everything we do is for the good of everyone. But not everyone cares like we do."

"Have you finished preaching?"

It was Virgil's turn to tighten a fist under the table. "What did he offer you?"

"Who?"

"The Hood."

The sudden silence was telling, but far from proof.

"He wanted the formula for the nanocrete, didn't he? Offered you money in exchange for your career and integrity?"

Windemere's lips thinned. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

God, the man was a pathetic liar. Beside him, Scott shifted in his seat. Virgil reached out and placed his hand on his brother's knee. Blue flickered in his direction.

"Mr Windemere, we have molecular proof of artificially instigated concrete cancer, we have the delivery method, we have your service records, we know you did this. You do not have the technology the Hood requested and we are not going to give it to you. Your better option is to own up to your crimes and hope the courts are kinder to you for it."

To Virgil's surprise, the man smiled. "But to prove it, you will have to reveal your technology to those courts."

Virgil eyed the man. What was his motivation? He stood to lose everything in this scheme. What could possibly be driving him to career suicide?

The man's smile widened.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me. It couldn't be as simple as that, could it? Really?

"You know, Scott, I don't think he knows anything. I don't think he is bright enough to pull this off." He flicked a glance in his brother's direction, hoping he'd pick up on his train of thought.

As always, his big brother read his mind, eyes drilling into his for just that split second. "I told you that. He has to be a puppet of a smarter mind. We are wasting our time." Scott stood up.

"I am no puppet!"

Wow, that was quick.

Acidic blue cut the man down. "There is no way you are smart enough to pull this off, Windemere."

Virgil stood up. "He dated Abby Applegate. Perhaps she inadvertently released another of her 'ideas'. Colonel Casey, the GDF will have to do something about her."

Aunt Val rose, eyes darting between Virgil and his brother.

"It wasn't Abby!" Windemere threw himself to his feet.

Virgil ignored him, taking a step towards the door. "Did I tell you about the time Abby set fire to her dorm by exploding a donut?"

Scott followed his lead. "A donut?"

"Pumped it full of homemade C-4 equivalent. Blew out sixteen windows and burned down half the building."

"You're kidding."

"No, it was spectacular."

"It wasn't Abby!"

"No one was hurt, fortunately. Though she did revolutionise the explosives market. Come to think of it, I used a derivative just last week during that mine collapse. It is an excellent product to work with." He latched onto his brother's eyes. "This corrosion would be right up her alley. I don't know why I didn't think of her earlier. It's not like she hasn't supplied the Hood before. He does only work with the best, I'll give him that much." A dismissive hand thrown in Windemere's direction. "There is no way Windemere would make the grade."

"Hey!"

Virgil hit his comms, knowing John was already listening in. "Thunderbird Five, could you give me a current location on Abby Applegate. She should be still housed at Denver College grounds."

"FAB, Thunderbird Two."

"Abby didn't do it! I did!"

The room fell silent except for the harsh breathing of the man at its centre. His face was red, skin gleaming in the overhead light. "I'm just as smart as Abby, Just as smart. Smart. I'm smart." And something in the man's angry mind clicked and he realised exactly what he had done. He went still as stone for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Virgil.

An inarticulate scream and he threw himself across the table, hands clawing.

One hooked Virgil's sling before he could react and, for a split second, all he saw was Windemere's wild face and a flash of pain striking across his vision in all its colour variegated glory.

A blur of blue IR uniform and Virgil found himself falling back into his seat with a jarring thud as Scott intervened between him and the raging engineer. GDF guards piled in, and the man was dragged off the IR operatives, still screaming incoherently.

"Lock him up." Aunt Val's voice could not have been more disgusted. Windemere was bundled out of the room. His screams echoed down the hall.

"Virg, you okay?"

Virgil blinked and found Scott crouching down at his side, worry in his eyes. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. Didn't expect him to completely explode." He straightened up and winced. "Should have reacted quicker."

His brother looked up at their Aunt. "Do we have enough?"

A sharp nod. "We have enough. Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Virgil." She frowned down at him. "I think it is time you went home, young man."

Virgil resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Scott immediately straightened up. "I agree." He held out his hand. "C'mon, Virgil, Grandma is waiting."

This time he did roll his eyes. "I'm fine." But as he took Scott's hand and his brother helped him to his feet, he realised that, yes, he was beyond tired, he was sick of being in pain, and yes, all he wanted to do was go home.

For just a moment, Scott drew him close. "You did good, Virg." A squeeze to his uninjured shoulder. "You did good."

-o-o-o-

The ride home was a blur.

Scott hauled him onto TB2, dragged him to the medbay, and produced the dreaded painkillers, glaring at Virgil until he swallowed the necessary dose down.

There was a brief 'discussion' on whether Virgil should lie down on the gurney, but ultimately he ended up in the cockpit.

He must have fallen asleep because next he knew Scott and Gordon were gently pulling him from his seat and lying him down. A flush of cooler air had him breathing in deep, but another sigh and he drifted again.

Murmured words, the familiar scent of his own cotton sheets, and he let himself go.

Job complete.

Now he could sleep.

-o-o-o-

The afternoon sun was crawling across his bed when Virgil woke the next day.

Its brightness had him blinking and shifting stiffly in his bed. A yawn, creaking fabric and he discovered he was still in his uniform, his baldric draped over a chair and his boots out of sight. It had obviously been impossible to remove the blue coverall simply because of his sling.

A whiff and he realised his odour wasn't the most pleasant. A shower sounded divine.

Movement, however, was a whole different matter.

He sighed.

His ceiling invited thought as he traced the meditative swirls, his mind skipping over the events of the day before. Windemere's stupidity, Abby's brilliance. The nature of genius.

Gordon's proud grin as he realised Virgil was V. T. Green.

He smiled, a fondness for his younger brother swelling in his gut.

But those thoughts returned his mind to the situation with his website, Brains and what the hell he was going to do about it all.

Yesterday had shouted all kinds of issues at him. So many examples of genius and stupidity and the abuse of knowledge and power. He pursed his lips.

Reaching for his tablet, he brought up his blog, only to find his inbox once again bursting at the seams with notifications.

Quiet words under his breath.

A decision and he flicked through his dashboard until he found what he was looking for.

He swallowed and, with a touch of a finger, shut the website down.

Permanently.

-o-o-o-

End Part Five


	6. Chapter 6

Title: V. T. Green

Part Six

Author: Gumnut

22 Sep – 15 Oct 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 2463

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: Finally, the next little bit of this fic. Apologies for the delay in this. 'Dirt' took over my writing life for a couple of weeks there and now 'Save Me' is attempting to do the same ::headdesk:: I foresee at least one more chapter of this and hopefully that will be it :D

This is one that I have been meaning to write for some time. I hope you enjoy it :D Many thanks to scribbles97, vegetacide and thunderstorm-bay for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

He was still lying there half an hour later when there was a soft knock on the door.

The thought of ignoring it flittered through the back of his mind. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. Shutting down his blog actually felt wrong, kind of sad, as if an outlet was now denied him...which it was. He really enjoyed speaking to like minds about ideas and innovations. He enjoyed brainstorming with Brains, of course, but his online interactions were something different and, if he was honest, he liked having the confidence of fellow engineers and a little recognition of his knowledge and skill from time to time.

But his ingrained politeness and self control forced him to push himself upright with a groan, drag his feet off the bed to hit the floor and respond.

His eldest brother's head poked in the door. "Virg?"

The engineer didn't answer, just waved him over, eyes closing a little in resignation.

Of course, Scott had a bottle of pills in one hand and half a glass of water in the other. Inevitable. Virgil held back the sigh.

"Don't say it. This is non-negotiable."

Virgil shifted where he sat on the edge of the bed only to jar his shoulder and groan.

The glass of water landed on his bedside table and the pill bottle rattled as Scott held his hand and shook two pills on to it.

Virgil glared at him, but shoved them in his mouth and took the offered water, washing them down with a grimace.

Ugh.

The empty glass ended up on the bedside table and Virgil let his shoulders droop just a little. Maybe he could climb back into bed, close his eyes and ignore the world for the rest of the day.

Scott sat down beside him on the bed. "We need to talk."

Oh, crap. His shoulders tightened.

"Then I need coffee." He shifted to push himself to his feet, but Scott reached out and gently tugged him back down, keeping him on the bed. "Virgil, please, tell me what is wrong. You haven't been yourself for days now. Something is bothering you."

"I don't have the capacity for this without coffee." He was like a computer that had run out of memory space. I'm sorry, Scott, I'm afraid I can't do that. He rubbed his hand across his face.

"Does it have something to do with Mom?"

What? He turned to stare at his brother only to find real worry in those blue eyes. "Why would it have to do with Mom?"

His brother shrugged a little guiltily. "When you failed to turn up for debrief, I checked on you. You had been looking at a photo of Mom." He held up a hand. "I didn't mean to pry, honest. I picked your tablet off the floor where you had dropped it and the screen flashed it at me."

Virgil swallowed. A pause. "It's not about Mom."

Those blue eyes still had questions in them. "Then what is it about?"

The room was quiet, the only sounds the sea breeze in the palm tree outside his window, distant gulls, surf on the other side of the island. He looked down at his hand in his lap. "Do you think I'm smart?" It came out before he could think it through.

"What?" Scott's forehead furrowed. "Does this have to do with that idiot Windemere?"

A sigh. "No. Yes. Maybe. Alan said something and it got me thinking." No, he shouldn't be talking before coffee or after pain killers. "Look, it doesn't matter. I'm fine." He made to get up, but a strong arm held him down.

"It is not fine. Why are you questioning yourself? My god, Virgil, you are one of the smartest people I know." A pause full of unspoken words. "What did Alan say?"

Shit. "It is nothing. Just had a bad couple of days. I'll be fine."

But again that hand held him down.

It wasn't strength. Virgil was stronger than his brother. It was...Scott.

"Talk to me, Virgil. Why are you questioning yourself?"

His shoulders dropped. "Should I have grabbed Alan? Or should I have trusted him get himself out of that fall?"

"What?! Are you kidding me? What the hell did he say to you?!"

Great. Now Scott was going to lambast his brother again. Virgil held up his hands. "This isn't about Alan. It's about me."

"I don't care which of you it is about. Alan was stupid and, yes, you did the right thing yanking his ass out of that fall. I would have done the same. I'm sorry you were injured, but the alternative...you did good."

It felt weak, but honestly, to hear it from Scott helped. Scott was his guide, his weather vane, his lead. He often felt that without Scott, he would be lost.

A swallow. "I can't see it happening any other way, either."

"Then what is the problem? Why are you doubting yourself?"

"Do you think Brains is smarter than me?"

That gave his brother pause. The frown deepened, his eyes shifted to thought for just a moment as he processed the question.

"Why?"

"Just answer the question."

"No, I don't."

Now that gave Virgil pause. "What?"

"Apart from the fact that this is not a race, Virgil, intelligence cannot be measured on a single scale. Everyone has different skills and aptitudes. There are situations where Brains' abilities will flourish and different areas where yours will shine. For example, I put Brains on the front line very rarely as his skill set does not respond well to unknown situations, whereas I can throw you in and know you'll land on your thinking feet and deal efficiently with whatever is thrown at you. You're both smart, just at different things."

He eyed his brother. "What about engineering?"

"What about it?" Perplexed was the word to describe his brother's tone and expression.

"We are both engineers. Yet you default to asking Brains before you ask me."

"What?"

"It's true. I can be standing beside you in the danger zone and instead of asking me, you comm Brains."

"I...I do?"

"Yes, you do."

"That's Brains' job."

"But not mine?"

"I wasn't aware it was an issue."

"It isn't."

"Then what? Virg, what the hell is going on? You've lost me."

He let his shoulders slump. "I don't know either. Don't worry about it." God, he needed coffee.

Scott slipped off the bed and knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his left shoulder. Virgil had no doubt that if his right shoulder wasn't damaged, there would be a hand there too. "Virg, you know, no matter what, you have my support. If you want to shift your duties more into the realm of engineering than they already are, fine, let's do it. If I have ever caused you to think I have any doubt in your abilities, I am truly sorry. There is no doubt. I would trust you with everything. I have trusted you with everything. It isn't about smarts, it's about you." Scott's blue eyes bore into his. "You _have_ my everything."

Something lodged in Virgil's throat. God. His voice was hoarse. "Thank you." He tried to swallow past that lump. "Likewise."

Scott smiled just a little and squeezed his shoulder. "Are we good?"

"We weren't anything but." Coffee, give me coffee.

Those eyes grew quizzical again. Virgil reached out and clasped Scott's arm. "I'm good. Honest. I just really need some coffee." Coffee and a shower.

His brother's expression switched to one of fond exasperation before he sighed and rose to his feet. Scott held out a hand. "Well, c'mon then, we can't deny you your fix, can we?"

Virgil pursed his lips, but took the helping hand, shoving himself to his feet. Scott threw an arm around him and drew him close. "No doubts, okay?"

Again with the hoarse voice. "Okay. Thanks, Scott."

His brother eyed the uniform Virgil was still wearing. "Need a hand?"

Virgil grunted. It wasn't the first time he or his brothers needed some assistance due to injury, but it still sucked.

Scott took the sound for what it really was and without any further comment began gently helping his brother out of his coverall.

"So what did Alan say?"

"I will talk to Alan."

Scott's lips tightened. "I hope he is grateful for what you did and apologises for being stupid."

Virgil touched his brother's arm. "I will talk to Alan." A gentle squeeze. "And please, be a little less liberal with that word."

"What word?"

"Stupid. None of are stupid. We all have our reasons for what we do. There is no stupid on this island, only a genuine want to do what is right."

Again with the staring blue eyes. A pause. "Okay."

"Thank you."

His brother stared at him a moment longer before returning to helping him out of his uniform. The rest of the job was done in mutual silence.

Scott handed him his dressing gown. "Coffee, before I trust you in the shower."

Virgil glared at him, but silently agreed as he shouldered on the garment.

His brother just grinned at him. "Let's get you your fix."

-o-o-o-

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. A rare dip in rescues that just gave them time to wind down and recover.

Virgil made the most of it. Not that there was any way he would be attending a rescue for at least a week, possibly more if Scott had his way. He had his coffee, extra large mug in the hope to combat the fog of his medication. It kind of worked. Enough for him to have a nice long shower, get cleaned up and throw on some fresh clothes. There was the piano and a painting, but he felt more like lying down, so found himself a pool lounger and, with a pile of self-indulgent pillows, holed up at the far end of the pool under a palm tree. His tablet provided the latest edition of Art Monthly and he let himself get lost in other people's art. The air was warm, but not hot, the breeze gentle and despite the dose of caffeine, it wasn't long before he drifted off.

When he woke, the sun was making for the horizon, the whole island cast in gold.

"Hey, Virgil."

The soft melodious voice of his space borne brother was lacking its usual transmission static and it was a pleasant surprise to roll over and find John sitting on a lounger beside him. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

First question of any brother to any injured brother, of course. "Good, actually." And he was. Relaxed, pain at a minimum, a gorgeous sunset in preparation, and... "Great to see you down here." Virgil didn't admit it often, but he did miss his middle brother. Didn't really like him so far out of reach. But John loved it, so it was what it was. Didn't mean Virgil couldn't be happy to see him when he could. "What brings you to this little planet?"

The sun was sculpting John's pale features and white shirt in almost molten gold, merging his skin with his copper hair. The odd thought of some kind of Greek god fluttered through the back of Virgil's mind. He shook himself mentally. What the hell?

"Why did you shut it down?"

"What?" Virgil stared at his brother.

"Your blog. Why did you shut it down?" John's turquoise eyes were a splash of contrasting colour stabbing through the gold.

Virgil opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"And for that matter, why haven't you told anyone that you are V.T. Green?"

"Gordon knows." It came out defensive.

"So, you told Gordon?"

"No, he guessed." Still staring. "How do you know?"

"Remember who taught you how to protect your identity online?"

Virgil frowned. "You hacked my website?!"

"For a legitimate reason, yes, I did." His brother appeared very unapologetic. "Brains needed information on V.T. Green so he could approach Scott with the idea of inviting him to the island." John smiled a little lopsided. "You've certainly expanded your defensive repertoire. I had quite a time tracking your identity down."

He couldn't help it. He bit his lip and smiled just a little. "I did learn from the best."

"And you sent the best on a right royal goose chase. The moon? Really?"

"It was convenient."

"So why haven't you told Brains."

"Didn't you?" He peered up at his brother.

"No. Not my information to share."

"Yet you hacked my site to get that information."

"Had to be done."

Virgil looked away a moment, his eyes catching the far off movements of a flock of seagulls.

"Why are you hiding, Virgil?'

He shot his brother a glance that almost turned into a glare. "I'm not hiding. Never was."

"But you haven't told anyone."

He shrugged and was rewarded with a medication reminder as his shoulder complained. "I didn't think I had to. It wasn't a thing."

"I read through your blog. Some pretty amazing stuff. Brains was right, V.T. Green is a genius."

Virgil eyed him. "You're the genius in this family." He turned back to the seagulls.

His brother didn't answer and for a short time there was silence except for the sounds of the island.

John sighed. "Do you remember in sixth grade those two boys, Jareth and Brodi."

"Sure, a couple of dicks. Scott should have hit them harder for what they did to you." Bastards. John still had the scar.

"Yeah, well, comes with the territory." John paused for a moment. "You're smart, Virgil. Very smart. Why..."

"Why don't my school grades show it? Why wasn't I picked on for my IQ?" He sat up, dragged his legs off the lounger and faced his brother. "Are you asking me if I've been bludging to hide my brain, John?"

"Have you?"

Virgil stared at him. "No!" He shifted where he sat. "I did my best at school. Hell, do you think I would have made it into Denver otherwise?"

"But these concepts are way beyond your qualifications."

"Qualifications? You think education ends at school? That it is tied to some stupid diploma? I did my dues; I convinced a bunch of hidebound professors that I understood enough to get my piece of paper. After that, I didn't have to convince anyone but my family." He glared at John. "And I thought my family knew what I was capable of." He shoved to his feet. "I haven't been hiding anything. I've always been who I am and I thought you all knew that." He turned away. "I guess I was wrong."

He didn't look back as he stormed inside.

-o-o-o-

End Part Six


	7. Chapter 7

Title: V. T. Green

Part Seven

Author: Gumnut

15 – 20 Oct 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 2801

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: Extra thanks to scribbles97 for the direction this took towards the end of this chapter. I thought this would be the last chapter, but there is just too much to put into one, so I've had to split it into two. One more chapter, partly written already. I'm getting to the end slowly. I hope you enjoy this :D

Many thanks to scribbles97, vegetacide and thunderstorm-bay for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

He hit the stairs and almost collided with Alan.

They both froze for a moment, his younger brother staring at him with a mixture of emotion. It was the fear that froze Virgil. The subtle widening of his brother's eyes, the step back...

Virgil's frustration with John evaporated.

"Alan? What's wrong?"

"Uh, hey, Virg." And his brother attempted to push past and continue down the stairs.

Virgil caught his arm. "Alan?"

His brother stopped, hesitating as if he didn't know what to do, but then a subtle shift in his stance and he slumped in defeat. "I'm sorry, Virgil."

"What?" Virgil stared.

"I've been an ass."

A blink. "Well, yeah, but what is the problem?" Okay, yes, Alan had been an ass, but that expression on his little brother's face wasn't one he enjoyed in the slightest. He turned on the stairs so he was facing Alan head on. "It happens. I'll get over it. Not the first time."

Alan slumped further before straightening in a more characteristic stubbornness that relieved Virgil more than he was willing to admit.

"You scared me, okay? Why is it that you have to put everything on the line every time I screw up?" He waved a hand towards Virgil's shoulder. "And to top it all off, you got hurt. Because of me!"

"Alan, I-"

"It was a stupid move, Virgil. You shouldn't have to get hurt because of me."

Virgil found himself staring speechless again.

"Anyway, I'm sorry. Sorry you got hurt, sorry I didn't listen, sorry it happened at all." Blue eyes begged acceptance.

A bird flew over the pool outside and squawked at something unseen.

Virgil reached out and wrapped his good arm around his little brother and pulled him in for a hug. There may have been a kiss to his hair, making Alan squirm.

Muttered into blond strands. "I'm your big brother. Would do it again, and more." He squeezed just a little.

"Aww, Virg, c'mon." Alan wriggled loose, obviously embarrassed, but didn't entirely let go. "It won't happen again."

"I didn't think it would." A small smile curved his lips. "My little brother is too smart for that."

If Alan clung to him a bit at that comment, neither of them said anything.

"Are we good?"

The question took him by surprise. Sure, his brother had been pissed at him, but they were brothers. Came with the territory. "I wasn't aware we were anything but." Again with the smile. "It's not like you drank the last of the coffee or anything."

"Now that you mention it..." Alan was grinning at him.

Virgil raised a finger and pointed it at his brother. "Now that is not a joking matter. You leave my coffee alone."

"Oh, so that's your Achilles heel, is it? You have given me power, oh addict bro."

"Watch it, brat." That one good hand mussed his brother's hair.

But Alan was laughing as he ducked out of reach, resuming his clamber down the stairs. Virgil's eyes followed him and a weight lifted off his shoulders. His smile slipped to one of fondness and a little love for his little brother.

Now he was getting soppy.

But Alan's apology meant a great deal, and as he resumed climbing the stairs, the smile stayed on his lips.

-o-o-o-

Despite his nap in the afternoon, Virgil crashed early that night. He stole food from the fridge and holed up in his room with an engineering journal. Grandma attempted to chase him up, but he pleaded injury. Of course, this only prompted an appearance at his door by his eldest brother, in mimicry of earlier in the day, pills in hand. Supervised while taking them, he did not spare his brother the required glare.

The concern in Scott's eyes was reassured with a handful of words and Virgil was left to himself.

He didn't mean to fall asleep while reading, but perhaps it was what he needed.

-o-o-o-

The world was blurry as Virgil let his head slide on his one good hand and stared out through the kitchen window.

He had no idea why he was awake. He had slept like the dead and woken on top of the covers still in his clothes, his tablet on the floor.

His throat was parched and his head full of cotton and his only thought had been coffee. Stumbling down from the residential levels, he somehow missed all the walls, bee-lining for the kitchen and his almighty coffee maker.

Of course, at this end of the day both his military brothers were up and about. Gordon, of course was in the pool, but Scott, just back from his run, stared at him for quite a moment, his blue gaze caught between a concern he was hallucinating and worry that Virgil might be near death for some undisclosed reason.

The result had been the reappearance of that bottle of pills and the mandatory glare until Virgil gulped them down. The fact he was so dopey almost led to him choking on the damn things, but the coffee in Scott's other hand led him on like a carrot before a mule.

His brother had eventually let him have the coffee and left him to his own devices, so now he sat in his usual spot staring out at Mateo and trying to boot his brain.

"Good morning, Virgil."

He blinked. "Oh, hey, John." Was that a sea eagle circling above Mateo? He hadn't checked out the cliffs recently. He wondered if they were nesting again. If so, those gulls wheeling about and making a ruckus had every right to be concerned.

"You awake there?"

"Huh?"

John was sitting across from him, smiling his soft smile as he nestled his own cup of coffee between his fingers. "Unusual to see you up this time of the day."

"Went to bed early. Woke up early." Coffee slid down his throat and, oh god, it was good.

"How's your arm."

"S'okay. Scott drugged me already."

"Good." There was silence for a moment. "Virgil, about yesterday, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

He turned to stare at his brother. He did not have the brain cells for this yet. "S'fine. Whatever. I'm you. You're me. Forget it."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Drink your coffee, Virgil."

Gordon wandered in, towelling his hair dry. The moment his eyes landed on Virgil, he froze. "Did we get a call out?"

John arched an eyebrow in the direction of his damp brother. "No, why?"

"Well, the walking dead is mobile and the sun is barely up. I had to think the worst."

"Shut up, Gordon."

"Yep, that's him. That cancels out the alien bodysnatching theory."

John stared at him. "What? A call out is worse than alien bodysnatching?"

Gordon shrugged. "Depends on the callout."

Virgil growled at him.

"Hoo, and the level of grump we need to endure."

Scott swooped in behind and cuffed him up the head. "Leave Virgil alone. He's injured."

"Heh, that just means he can't whip my ass."

"Don't test me, fish food." Gordon was particularly irritating first thing in the morning.

Of course, he only laughed.

"Can it, Gordon." Kayo prowled into the room. 'Prowl' was the only word for it. His sister moved like a cat - silent and slinky.

Slinky? Oh god, more coffee. He upped the cup and stood to go in search of another one. Kayo smiled at him as she delved into the refrigerator. More coffee.

By the time his cup had refilled, Alan had wandered in and stolen his seat. "Hey!"

"Huh?"

Okay, Alan looked as bad as he felt. Virgil stumbled back to the table and sat beside him. "You okay?"

"Eh, bad dreams. I'll be fine."

Virgil put his coffee down and placed his hand on his brother's back. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." A young blue gaze peered up at him. A sigh. "Ask me after breakfast. I might be awake by then."

He ran his hand in a few circles across his little brother's back before his own need for coffee overrode everything and he had to pull his one available hand back into service.

A glass of orange juice and a bowl of cereal appeared in front of Alan courtesy of their eldest brother. Virgil smiled at Alan's scowl, only to have a similar bowl land in front of him, complete with matching orange juice. "What?"

Scott smirked at him. "You missed dinner last night. You're not missing breakfast."

Goddamned smother hen. But Virgil grumbled and poked at the cornflakes. Kayo dumped a bowl of fruit on the table. Gordon found his own breakfast and planted himself next to John. "Oooh, a family breakfast. This doesn't happen very often."

Virgil and Alan in concert. "Shut up, Gordon."

"Hmm, and now I see why."

Scott pulled up a chair and grinned at his own breakfast.

Virgil couldn't hold his spoon and his coffee at the same time and it was very annoying.

"No, no, no, no! Th-This can't be r-right!" Brains stormed into the room, tablet in hand, Max wailing in behind him. He almost collided with Kayo who was making her way over to the table with her bowl and drink in hand. All that training shone through as she both managed to dodge the irate engineer and save her breakfast from the floor.

"Brains, you okay?" Scott rose from his chair.

"N-no, I-I'm not. V. T. Green d-deleted his blog and I can find no t-trace of him or his theories!"

Virgil choked on his cereal, coughing and spluttering until Alan whacked him gently on the back. Gordon and John both flicked glances in his direction, but busied themselves eating.

"He's gone?" Scott's voice could only be described as disappointed. "I thought you were tracking him down? Nothing is ever completely deleted. John, do you think you would be able to get a trace on this guy?"

"Um..."

"Why don't you just ask Virgil?" Kayo swallowed a mouth of cereal.

"What?" Scott stared at her before darting a glance at his brother.

"Well, it was his blog, wasn't it?"

The room fell silent and every eye landed on the man.

Virgil sculled his mug full of hot coffee.

It scorched all the way down.

"V-Virgil?" It was small and shocked and it came from Brains. "A-Are y-you V-V. T. G-Green?"

He turned to face his fellow engineer, fearful of what he would find. Brains' expression was worried, stressed and possibly hurt. Shit. Damn. Virgil slumped where he sat for just a split second before forcing himself to face the music. A swallow. "I am. It's...he is me."

The room fell silent again, the tension in the air waiting for Brains' reaction. The engineer's stare didn't leave Virgil for a moment. Wide-eyed he approached slowly.

Virgil had no idea what to do.

Then Brains was hugging him, babbling incoherently in his ear. His shoulder complained and he had to shift, but the slight engineer continued to cling, a number of jumbled equations spilling all over him in joyful excitement.

Oh god.

He must have winced one time too many because the next moment Scott was gently pulling Brains off him.

"You're V.T. Green?" Scott's quiet question made it over Brains' jubilant mutterings as he held the man.

Virgil looked up at his brother. "Yeah." His gaze darted back to his hands. Whispered. "Sorry."

"Why didn't you say something?"

Brains had fallen silent and once again, all the eyes in the room were on Virgil.

"Um..."

"You designed that self-healing polymer?" Alan's eyes were wide behind him. "V.T Green is a genius..." Those eyes widened even further. "You're a genius."

Virgil couldn't hold his gaze and turned back to staring at his hands. A shrug. "John's the genius."

"Virgil, why did you hide it from us?" The expression on Scott's face could only be considered concerned.

"I didn't!" And there was the kicker. "I thought you guys knew! It was pretty damned obvious."

Kayo snorted. "You'd think a genius would pick a better pseudonym."

He glared at her as she picked a strawberry out of the bowl of fruit, popped it in her mouth and smiled at him.

"I wasn't trying to hide."

"Then why didn't you say something?" Scott was obviously determined.

"I didn't know what to say!" A frown. "Kayo is right." He swallowed. "It was obvious." He stood up and shouldered past his eldest brother. He needed more coffee.

"Three cups? That's a lot even for you." Gordon piped up, but for once he wasn't taking a dig at Virgil. There was genuine concern in his voice.

But, of course, that only prompted smother hen to step in and prevent him from reaching the coffeemaker.

"Scott..."

"This is what has been bothering you."

"Bothering me? Of course, it has been bothering me! It was damned obvious and out of all the brothers I thought knew me well, only one worked it out!" He stared at his family. "You're all smart, damned geniuses in your own right, but it never even occurred to most of you that V.T. Green was me. They are my initials! I'm an engineer. I've had that website for years, and only one of you worked it out. I've never tried to hide anything from you. You've worked with me for most of my life." He turned to Brains. "You've worked with me as an engineer. We speak the same damned language and you didn't work it out." He turned back to Scott, glaring up at him. "So yeah, it did bother me. I'm sorry, it pissed me off. I thought you knew me better than that. Obviously, I was wrong." And with that he turned and stormed up the stairs, ignoring his name being called behind him.

-o-o-o-

Gordon sighed as Scott darted up the stairs after Virgil. That was not going to end well.

He shoved the remainder of his breakfast away and stood.

"How did you know it was him?" Alan's voice was quiet and worried.

Another sigh as he kicked his chair back under the table. "I didn't at first. I was as slow on the uptake as the rest of you. It was only Virgil's reaction when I mentioned the name to him that gave it away."

"I feel h-horrible." Brains couldn't slump any further without falling over. "L-looking back, V-Virgil is right. It was o-obvious."

"C'mon...he's Virgil. Who could have known?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gordon rounded on Alan. "And I suppose you think I'm only good for a pair of swim trunks and the occasional prank."

"Gordon, I..." But his eyes said everything.

"Well, isn't that just dandy. Thanks for your confidence in both of us."

"Gordon, he didn't mean it that way." John put a hand on his arm.

"Yes, he did. No wonder Virgil is so pissed." He stepped away from the table and John let go. "You geniuses just have a think on that while I go commiserate with our vastly underestimated brother."

With that he rounded the table and followed his two older brothers up the stairs.

As expected, those two brothers were having words at the elevator.

"Just leave it, Scott."

"Virg, you know you have my confidence. We discussed this yesterday."

"I know." His second eldest brother straightened. His clothes were wrinkled as if he had slept in them. His sling was hanging crooked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott's voice was almost begging.

Gordon slumped where he stood. He thought Scott knew Virgil better than that.

And sure enough... "I shouldn't have had to tell you, Scott. You, of all people, should have worked it out! Hell, I dropped clues all through that conversation."

"And I asked you repeatedly what the hell was wrong and you refused to tell me!"

Okay, this was getting into yelling territory and whenever his two biggest brothers really let go, it was never good...for anyone.

Gordon stepped up to the two of them, placing his definitely unwanted-self right into the middle of the argument.

Sure enough, one blue and one brown glare landed directly between his eyeballs. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

"Gordon..." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose.

Virgil took the opportunity to disappear into the elevator and vanish, his furious expression taken away by the closing doors.

"Damnit!" Scott was combusting on the spot.

Gordon dropped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'll take this one."

"What?" His big brother spun, anger in his eyes.

"I'll speak to Virgil."

That blue gaze narrowed on him and he could see the calculations behind his brother's eyes. Ever the strategist.

Gordon rolled his eyes. "I've got this." And without a further word, he ignored the elevator and took the stairs two at a time.

-o-o-o-

End Part Seven


	8. Chapter 8

Title: V. T. Green

Part Eight

Author: Gumnut

20 - 25 Oct 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Did you discover this, Brains?" He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

"Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant."

Word count: 3555

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: Standalone

Author's note: Here we are, the final chapter. I've been staring at this for far too long, so who knows what's in here. Thank you for all your wonderful support on this fic. I hope it lived up to expectations and I hope you enjoy this last bit.

Many thanks to scribbles97, vegetacide and thunderstorm-bay for all their wonderful help with this.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

Virgil slammed the door to his rooms behind him. Okay, so he was being petty, but they should have known. Why didn't they know?

Whatever.

Now he was here, he had no idea what to do with himself. A glance around the room and he realised this was not where he wanted to be.

His 'bird.

He would go and work on his 'bird.

With one hand.

He stared down at the sling restricting the movement of his arm. A moment of thought, and he was sliding the offending piece of material off his arm.

Scott had force fed him his medication so there was only twinging. He tentatively stretched his arm out.

Ow.

Okay, respect needed.

At least he could shower and change his clothes.

His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Virgil?"

Gordon.

A sigh. "Leave me alone."

"Not this time, bro." The sounds of fumbling and a second later Gordon waltzed through the door.

"What the hell did you do to that lock?"

Gordon held up the unit in one hand. "This one?" Wires hung loose from the half disassembled electronic device. Virgil stared at it.

"What? You didn't know I could do that? Hmm, you've underestimated me, bro. I should get angry and storm out."

Virgil's shoulders dropped and he sent his brother a flat-eyed glare. "Fine. Do that. At least I'll be left alone."

The lock landed on a side table and Gordon shut the door quietly behind him.

Virgil ignored him and began pulling off his shirt, prepping for his shower. His arm and shoulder protested loudly.

"Hey." Gentle hands pulled the sleeve of his flannel shirt off his arm. "You shouldn't have that sling off yet."

"Yeah, well, I stink and I want to shower."

His brother's hands didn't stop helping him. The flannel shirt landed on the couch, followed slowly by his grey undershirt.

"You're not pulling my pants off."

"Why not?" Gordon looked up at him, no trace of humour in his expression. "You've helped me with everything." That gaze intensified.

Virgil sighed. It felt wrong to have his little brother helping him like this. "That was different."

"Why? Because you're the older brother? I'm sorry, Virg, I can't change our birth order, but I'm still going to help you."

"Gordon..."

His brother darted in and undid his button and, before he knew it, he was standing there in his briefs.

No smart ass comment passed his brother's lips despite the green coffee cups on his underwear. The two men stood staring at each other for a moment.

Virgil's lips curled up slightly in a smile. "It must be killing you to hold it all in."

Gordon bit his lip, but his eyes sparkled. "Not saying a thing."

The smile became a grin and Gordon's expression became pinched with strain. Before he knew it, Virgil was laughing his ass off. He ended up holding his arm close and sitting down on the couch in order to not injure himself with his own humour.

His little's brother's face broke out in a grin and he sat down beside him. "That is so much better, Virg."

The laughter petered out into a fond smile and Virgil reached out to put an arm around Gordon's shoulders.

The aquanaut backed off immediately. "Hey, you're almost naked! A little too much skin, bro."

Virgil grinned and mussed his hair instead.

"Oh, man. Gettorf!" Gordon flailed at his fingers.

He let his brother off the hook and sank into the couch cushions. "Thanks, Gordon."

A brown gaze so similar to the one he so often saw in the mirror. "Virgil, do you think I'm smart?"

He froze, the question such an echo of what he had asked Scott the day before, his heart lurched.

"Sure, Gordon."

The gaze didn't blink. "No, you don't, Virgil."

"Gordon! Your achievements-"

But Gordon was shaking his head. "You don't, Virgil." He held up a hand. "I'm not angry, not hurt, don't worry, I'm happy with what I am."

"No! Gordon, you are smart."

"Not the same smart as you. Or John."

"Maybe not, but smart comes in many different forms."

His brother shrugged. "How did I get into this room, Virg?"

"You broke the lock." Another job to add to his list.

"I disassembled the locking mechanism." A pause. "Did you know I could do that?"

"Uh-"

"You didn't, did you?"

Virgil looked down at his hands. "No, I didn't."

"Virg, I have a whole array of skills I don't use day to day. Some of them I hope I never have to use again, ever."

A darted stare at his brother. "WASP."

"Yep." A quirk of a smile. "I doubt my brothers are aware of half of the things I'm capable of." The smile became grim. "And I'd like to keep it that way." A shrug. "Okay, maybe Scott knows more than most, but..." He turned to face Virgil. "I don't want _you_ to see how smart I am." He straightened and the smile came back. "I like being the goofball brother."

Virgil's smile was soft. "You'll always be the goofball brother. No contest."

"And you will always be the grumpy bear before his morning coffee no matter how many smarts you declare."

The smile became fond. "How did you know, when no one else did?"

Gordon shook his head. "Sorry, bro, I didn't. You told me with your reaction."

"At least you considered the possibility."

"Didn't I say that the first rule of International Rescue is if Virgil says it is, it is? That didn't come from me, you know. John passed that on in a lecture after I screwed up, and he heard it from Scott when he screwed up before me. Scott heard it from Dad. It is a rule that has been learnt the hard way by all of us. Except you. Because you are damn good at what you do, Virg. You may not realise it, but trust me, your brothers do."

Gordon drew a breath. "We didn't realise that you were V.T. Green because we have gotten so used to your expertise in action, we forgot the theory behind it all. We know you're smart and we rely on it every day. I've seen your head buried in so many engineering journals over the years, I should have realised it sooner, but don't you dare think that because we didn't connect the dots between you and a website, that we don't know our brother has whatever it takes." A small smile. "Because you always do. That brain of yours has saved our butts so many times, Virg."

"But, Brains-"

"What is this? A competition?" Gordon frowned at him. "Brains is smart, too. So are John, Alan, Scott, Tin, Grandma and even me. There is no shortage of genius on this island. It just comes in different forms, just like you said. It has to. Otherwise this crazy rescue organisation wouldn't work."

The room fell silent. Goosebumps rose on Virgil's arms, the air still a little cool at this time of the morning. Another reason to sleep in. Give the island some time to warm up.

"I'm sorry, Gordon. I shouldn't have exploded like that."

"What? Of course, you should have. It doesn't hurt to surprise everyone now and again. Keeps them on their toes. Well, all except for Tin."

Virgil snorted. "Nothing gets past her."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she bugged your underwear."

He stared at his brother. "What?"

Gordon just grinned at him.

"You are the goofball, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"And you wouldn't have me any other way."

He reached out to tousle Gordon's hair again and the man ducked off the couch.

A fond grin. "No, I wouldn't."

-o-o-o-

Virgil managed his shower and Gordon left him to it. It gave him time to think. Time to look at it all from a different perspective. Kayo had dobbed him in for a reason. His sister never did anything without a reason and honestly, now the cat was out of the bag, it lifted the worry from his shoulders. Perhaps he should thank her. Maybe grab some of her favourite chocolate from that little shop in southern Australia.

But he still had to face Brains and for the first time in his life, he was hesitating in approaching his fellow engineer.

There had never been anything but a strong and honest friendship between himself and Hiram Hackenbacker. His friend was just that little bit older than him, just that little more experienced...

And so much smarter.

He had been inspirational when Virgil was younger. His studies had been both guided and assisted by the brilliant young engineer discovered by his father. Brains had been there at the start of his career and he had been a constant companion in his engineering endeavours ever since. He owed him so much.

He sighed.

It would be up to Virgil to approach Brains. The man's social skills were almost inversely proportional to his genius.

He should have spoken to him earlier.

Brothers were one thing, they would forgive him eventually. They were his brothers.

But friends...mentors...

He didn't want to lose Brains' trust.

He managed to get some pants on without too much trouble. He gave up on the undershirt and slipped the sling on over his bare chest before draping his flannel shirt over his injured shoulder and slipping his good arm through the sleeve. It wasn't the greatest solution and Grandma would likely frown at him, but he didn't care.

What he did care about was hunting down Brains and apologising.

He made it through the house without encountering anyone, oddly enough, and caught the elevator down to the labs.

Virgil had his workshop. Brains had his labs. Perhaps that illustrated the subtle differences to their individual approaches to engineering. Traditionally, Brains tackled the theories and experiments. Virgil's domain was more maintenance. His 'experiments' little more than finding solutions to mechanical problems encountered in the field or during repairs.

Brains designed and built Thunderbirds.

Virgil kept them in the sky, under the water and in space.

And it was there in the corridor between Labs One and Two that he realised exactly what his problem was.

He was in Brains' shadow and he hadn't even realised it.

The thought stopped him in his tracks.

He was familiar with the shadow cast by his high achieving eldest brother. Scott Tracy had always been a hard act to follow. But Virgil's focus was so different to Scott's he felt he had carved out his own niche and, to be honest, he was quite comfortable beside Scott. He fit well as his second and a small niggling voice at the back of his mind sometimes warned him that he was relying far too much on his brother for skills he had no wish to develop himself.

But Brains...Brains shared his interests, worked in the same field, was so much smarter...

Had he slipped into being Brains' second as well?

The thought felt wrong. Virgil wasn't competitive. He was happy where he was...wasn't he?

He still had those thousands of notifications in his inbox.

Shit.

"Virgil?"

He jumped. He had been completely lost in thought standing in the middle of the corridor. Brains was staring at him.

Virgil straightened. "Uh, hey, Brains."

"H-how are you feeling?"

A blink. "Um, okay." He was such an on-the-ball conversationalist this morning.

"I was h-hoping that while you are off r-rescues we could..." But Brains' voice petered off and a frown crumpled his brow. "I am s-sorry, V-Virgil, that I did not r-recognise you as V-V. T. G-Green."

Virgil shifted where he stood. "I didn't know you read my blog. Well, until the other day."

"Oh, your blog is amazing. That polymer is brilliant. I also enjoyed your discussion with O'Malley regarding tensile steel versus polysteel in bridge construction. Where did you get that idea for interweaving the two materials?"

"From that bridge in Mexico last year. The one that buckled due to uneven weight distribution on the secondary pylon grouping."

The engineer was running calculations, Virgil could tell. "Yes, I can see that now. Do you think that would have m-managed the harmonic wind factor as well?"

"Oh, definitely." And that led into a discussion of harmonic pressure and the properties of the new combination of materials. They slipped easily into engineering jargon and they ended up in one of Brains' labs deep in the most fascinating and satisfying discussion Virgil had ever had with his friend.

It was Scott standing in the doorway several hours later that finally snapped them out of the land of scientific imagination. By that time, the self-healing polymer was modelled and ready for initial experimental trials.

"Am I going to have to share him with you now, Brains?" Scott was smiling, obviously amused. Virgil wondered how long his brother had been standing there.

But Brains grew flustered. "Th-that's entirely u-up to V-Virgil."

Virgil held up a hand. "Hey, nothing's changed. I'm still the same wrench monkey I was yesterday."

Brown eyes caught his. "N-no, Virgil, you are so much more. I-I'm j-just s-sorry I didn't see it b-before." His friend's shoulders dropped.

"Hey." He walked over to the engineer and placed his good hand on Brains' shoulder. "I should have told you. Though, I honestly didn't realise...a lot of things." He squeezed gently. "But now we know and we can move forward." It was quite exciting really. Brains had experience Virgil could learn from and Brains saw possibilities in several of Virgil's theories.

"Wh-why did you shut d-down your website?" It came out in a rush, the worry on Brains' face obvious.

Virgil was very aware of his silent brother still standing just inside the door. And, no, he hadn't missed the bottle of pills in Scott's hand.

Voice quiet. "Abby Applegate. You made me realise the potential I was making public. I pulled it to give myself time to work out what I want to do with my theories."

"You want to keep them under the blanket of International Rescue?" It was Scott's commander voice asking the question and it had Virgil automatically straightening his posture in response.

He turned to his brother. "I haven't decided yet."

"But isn't this technology that the Hood could..."

Virgil held up a hand. "This technology could save thousands of lives and, yes, if it got into the wrong hands it could make our jobs harder, but..." And as he was saying it, the idea clarified in his mind. "It could save so many more lives than we ever could, if we release the technology so manufacturers can build it into their products to prevent us from needing to be called in, in the first place."

"Virgil-"

"No, Scott. I have to think on this further, but this polymer, at least, will be released in some form. Maybe we can release it through Tracy Industries, maybe some other way, But I don't want to deny the possibilities it could mean for sheer safety in areas like marine habitation or airships, for example."

His brother's glance immediately flicked to the other engineer in the room. "Brains?"

Virgil couldn't believe it. The rational part of his mind knew it was only reflex on Scott's part, but... "No! This isn't Brains' decision, it's mine!"

He saw the moment of realisation as to what he had done flicker across Scott's eyes. His mouth opened but Brains interrupted. "Th-this is V-Virgil's decision."

Virgil straightened his spine.

Scott echoed his stance, but his voice was soft. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"I need to remember that."

-o-o-o-

When Scott finally dragged him out of Brains' lab, Virgil discovered it was later than he expected. He and Brains had well and truly gotten lost in their discussion. It was lunch time, but a very late one. His eldest brother continued the dragging all the way to the kitchen. There was pill taking demanded, followed by a glare directed seat at the table.

Food appeared in front of him.

Brothers wandered into the room and found their own lunches. Soon there were conversations bouncing around.

Gordon clapped him around his good shoulder as he entered. "So, when is Four getting this groovy polymer upgrade?"

"It doesn't even exist yet. We're still a way off a workable application."

"Hey, just getting in first dibs. I read your blog entry on that you know. It was amazing."

Virgil stared at him. "You read my blog entry?"

"Sure. Brains was over the moon about it and I wanted to know more. Plus, it was great sport to see you put that colon-custard guy where he belonged." Gordon grinned.

Okay, that was an image. He held back a shudder. "Coloncous."

"Whatever. You scored big." His fish brother swiped a piece of carrot off Virgil's plate. "Let me know next time you want to take down another hot air balloon, I'd like to watch." He grinned and headed off into kitchen, likely to pilfer from other plates before finally throwing his own lunch together.

A glass of juice appeared at his elbow, Scott arching an eyebrow to match Virgil's query, the message obvious. Look after yourself.

Brains wandered in, distracted as usual. This time it was John who stopped him from colliding with the furniture and directed him to a chair before he collided with anything else.

Kayo slunk into a seat beside Virgil on his good side, nudging him with her elbow. "Forgive me?"

"For what?"

"Telling."

A one shoulder shrug. "I guess."

"They had to know."

"I guess."

She stared at him a moment, her expression assessing him. "Letting an opponent underestimate you makes good tactical sense. Just don't underestimate yourself."

"I..." But the words escaped him as her green gaze pierced him, pushing her point home.

Her hand rested on his shoulder and she leant in and whispered in his ear. "Though I must say it was great sport to see you get one over all of them." She smiled. "Never underestimate a Tracy."

And with those words she was gone from his side and delving into the refrigerator as if there was no physical space between him and the appliance.

A blink. Kayo was a law unto herself. He shook his head and couldn't help but smile.

A sudden exchange of words at the kitchen counter ended in an outraged squawk. "Gordon!"

Alan had raw egg in his hair and dripping into his eyebrows and onto his cheeks.

A second later, Gordon had flour in his hair.

As Virgil leapt out of his chair and Scott dove across the room, another egg sailed through the air and the butter dish made airborne. It got loud and there was yelling.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Scott was answered by a cloud of flour.

"Hey, guys, cut it out!" Virgil reached into the fracas with his good arm and yanked, landing himself a furious Alan screaming profanities at Gordon and coated in what equated to omelette.

His eldest brother grabbed a glaring Gordon and restrained him. There was moment of stunned silence before an angry Scott broke it. "What the hell are you two doing?"

"Teaching the squirt a lesson."

"Screw you, Gordon!"

"What? Did you underestimate your dumb brother, genius boy?"

"I never said you were dumb!"

"You don't think I've got the brains to keep up with you."

Virgil had to pull Alan back again, his balance off due to one arm in a sling. His littlest brother was furious. "I never said that either!"

"But you thought it!"

"HEY!" It was Virgil's voice, not Scott's that brought the argument to a dead stop. "Gordon, what the hell?"

The aquanaut lost the glare and let his shoulders drop, shifting to a nonchalant stance as if he wasn't coated head to toe in flour and egg. He ignored Virgil and addressed his little brother. "Point made?"

Alan shook off Virgil's grip and straightened up, his shoulders squared. "Point made."

"We good?"

A stare at his next eldest brother before Alan once again shifted his stance, relaxing even further. "We're good." And to Virgil's astonishment, Alan's face split into a grin. "That was a smart move with that first egg. Did not see it coming."

"You shouldn't expect anything less, little bro."

"I know, I know, point made. You're smart, I'm smart. Now show me how you flipped your wrist like that."

Virgil stared as the two youngest brothers huddled together discussing how to slingshot an egg with a single wrist twist. Across the room, Scott appeared equally mystified as to what had actually happened.

Eventually the engineer just rolled his eyes and wandered over to the sink to wash the flour off his hand. Scott ended up beside him, the smother hen helping him clean his one hand.

Virgil rolled his eyes.

"We good?" Scott's voice was quiet almost tentative.

A frown. "Of course. Yes, we're good."

He was surprised at the smile that spread over Scott's face. A wet hand squeezed his shoulder and handed him a towel.

And dried his one hand.

Oh, for the love of...

Scott was grinning at him.

"God, you're an ass."

"Yeah, a smart one."

Virgil cuffed him up the back of his head.

-o-o-o-

FIN.


End file.
